After an agonizing four years of waiting the ICC Cricket World Cup is finally back.
The worlds greatest players have arrived on Australian soil for six weeks of one day cricket which will see one team take home cricket’s most prestigious prize, the world cup trophy. So let’s take a look at the teams in Pool B and the impact they will have on this year’s tournament.
Be sure to also check out our Pool A Preview here.
India
Squad: MS Dhoni (C), Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma
Four years ago India was in party mode after the 2011 World Cup in India where the national team had just secured its first World Cup win and everybody was excited to see India become the true powerhouse of world cricket.
Now fast-forward four years, India are anything but a powerhouse side (outside of India). After completing a winless tour on Australian soil they come into this tournament with their confidence low and their hopes of defending the World Cup title in question.
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Despite their form of late I can still see potential in India’s batting stocks. India have done a good job of replacing their retired champions and put together a batting force that will be dominant in years to come. With the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina in the top five the Indian batting unit will have a real influence on the tournament as they attempt to bat opposition sides out of the game.
Although their batting is extremely talented I cannot see India progressing deep into the tournament. Their bowling is just not strong enough and Australian conditions don’t suit the way India play as their batsman generally struggle with the extra bounce in the pitches and their bowlers can’t seem to find the correct line and length to be effective.
It would take something extreme to prevent the Indians from progressing to the quarters but once the knockout stage begins I cannot see the Indian’s beating any of the teams from Pool A.
Prediction: Knocked out in Quarter Finals
South Africa
Squad: AB De Villiers (C), Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton De Cock, Jean Paul Duminy, Faf Du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn
Undoubtedly the dominant side of the past five years the South Africans enter the 2015 Cricket World Cup with high expectations. In past years the South Africans have struggled with the pressures of a World Cup but something tells me the squad they have assembled this summer could bring crickets most prestigious prize to African soil for the first time.
Lets begin with the batsmen, headlined by arguably the best player in the world at the moment AB De Villiers, South Africa’s batting order will strike fear into opposing sides. With the likes of Hashim Amla, Quinton De Kock, and David Miller to support De Villiers expect the South African’s to pile on the runs.
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Now the bowlers, South Africa’s bowling attack is full of class players who on their day can all be match winners. Headlined by spearhead Dale Steyn, South Africa has the potential to do great things. With the likes of Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott in support the South African fast bowlers will have no trouble with Australian conditions as the pitches offer the pace and bounce the South African’s need to be truly formidable. Their bowling is also bolstered by the coming of age of leg spinner Imran Tahir who has really made a name for himself as an elite one day spin bowler.
The South African’s are as ready as they can be for the world cup; and should cruise through the group stage and push hard towards their first World Cup title. So will South Africa finally break their World Cup hoodoo or will they have to wait another four years?
Prediction: Runner Up
Pakistan
Squad: Misbah-Al-Haq (C), Ahmed Shehzad, Ehsan Adlil, Haris Sohail, Mohammed Irfan, Nasir Jamshed, Rahat Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Khan, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Younus Khan
One of the dark horses of the Cricket World Cup Pakistan enters the tournament with a sense of uncertainty about them. Pakistan’s one-day form of late has not been great with losses to Australia (3-0) and New Zealand (3-2), (2-0) both home and away in the past six months. Despite this the Pakistanis are definitely a chance to go a long way in the tournament.
Pakistan’s squad displays much potential with a stable mix of quality batsman and bowlers who on their day can mix it with the world’s best. With the likes of Younus Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal, and Shahid Afridi in the top six, expect lots of 300+ scores from the Pakistani’s.
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Pakistan’s strength in bowling is its plentiful spin stocks with Yasir Shah and Shahid Afridi set to both have a serious impact on the tournament. Being leg spinners Shah and Afridi will be looking to wreck havoc on opposition sides sharply spinning the ball away from the right-handers. One aspect of weakness for Pakistan is its inexperienced fast bowling attack. Featuring the likes of Mohammed Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, and Sarfraz Ahmed they lack the consistency to be a world class bowling attack. This is a major concern especially in Australia as it is the quicks that are generally relied on to bowl the side to victory.
Pakistan are looking to have a solid World Cup campaign, with expectations of reaching at least the semi finals. I honestly can’t see any reason why Pakistan can’t achieve this goal or possibly even go one step further.
Prediction: Knocked out in Semi Finals
West Indies
Squad: Jason Holder (C), Marlon Samuels, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Milller
The last 12 months have been a disaster for West Indian Cricket. The team is in complete disarray having not won a one-day series (against a top eight side) in over two years. The problems continue off the field with star players Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo left out of the squad due to issues with the West Indies Cricket Board. So how is it that we still can’t write this troublesome side off
The answer is quite simple; they have too much talent to be ignored. With the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Darren Sammy, Kemar Roach and Andre Russell the West Indian side is full of potential. If their star players can hit some form in the tournament the Windies could easily become a very dangerous side later in the competition. But with potential comes inconsistency as the Windies lack genuine support for their star players and discipline both with bat and ball. These two issues have caused the West Indies to plummet to their lowest of lows and turned them into the laughing stock of world cricket.
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The man who I believe can turn things around for the West Indies this summer is big man Chris Gayle who on his day is one of the most devastating batsmen in the world. With an average of 36.85 and 21 one day hundreds Gayle is the only player capable of truly carrying the Windies to victory making him crucial to the team’s fortunes. Along with his immense batting power he is also a very handy off spinner who can take wickets at crucial times in a game.
Unfortunately for West Indian fans the short-term future doesn’t look great for the Caribbean side. A lack of discipline and structure throughout the West Indian set up is extremely worrying and needs to be fixed immediately. Expect the Windies to qualify relatively easily for the knockout stages but go no further as they will be there to make up the numbers.
Prediction: Knocked out in Quarterfinals
Zimbabwe
Squad: Elton Chigumbura (C), Sikander Raza, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Solomon Mire, Tawanda Mupariwa, Tinashe Payangara, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams
Perhaps the best of the minnow nations participating in the tournament, Zimbabwe’s main goal of the Cricket World Cup will be to produce as many upsets as possible against prominent Test playing nations. Zimbabwe’s form of late has been inconsistent after their impressive tri series against Australia and South Africa earlier in the year that included a famous win over the Aussies but whimpered to a dismal 5-0 loss to Bangladesh only months later. In the aftermath of the Bangladesh embarrassment Zimbabwe took action by sacking coach Stephen Mongogo and bringing in the experienced Dav Whitmore as his replacement. Whatmore has experienced World Cup success before with Sri Lanka in 1996 and will without doubt put every ounce of his knowledge into helping the Zimbabweans be a competitive side.
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Zimbabwe’s hopes of a quarterfinal appearance lie with their most accomplished player Brendan Taylor. The former one-day captain is the glue that holds the Zimbabwean batting order together; having played for over 10 years and he will look to use his maturity and class to anchor the Zimbabwe innings. H is also a very handy wicketkeeper adding to his importance within the team. With a solid average of 33.27 from 161 matches he is the man to take Zimbabwe forward to a possible quarterfinals birth.
Having showed much promise in the warm up matches (defeating Sri Lanka on Thursday) I don’t think Zimbabwe is quite good enough to crack the knockout stage. Despite this expect them to be competitive in every match they play in the group stage with a very good chance of pulling off an upset against the likes of India, Pakistan or the West Indies. Zimbabwe are a work in progress at the moment and with a new coach and relatively young squad they will already have their sights set on the 2019 Cricket World Cup as an opportunity to break into the knockout stages.
Prediction: Knocked out in group stage
UAE
Squad: Mohammed Tauqir (C), Amjad Ali, Amjad Javed, Andri Berenger, Fahad Alhashmi, Manjula Guruge, Kamran Shazad, Khurram Khan, Krishna Chandran, Mohammed Naveed, Nasir Aziz, Swapnil Patel, Rohan Mustafa, Saqlain Haider, Shaiman Anwar
In their second Cricket World Cup appearance, the UAE will be looking to win at least one match on Australian soil this summer. Having being absent from the last tournament the UAE are back in business, bigger and better then ever. After a confidence building 3-1 series win over Afghanistan late last year the UAE have a sense of belief and excitement about them as they climb up the rankings in world cricket.
The UAE enjoyed an extremely successful qualifying campaign, finishing second in a strong competition. Throughout the qualifying period the UAE only lost to one team (Scotland) as they overcame the likes of the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Namibia. After a strong qualifying campaign the UAE come into the World Cup with a sense of confidence as they set about trying to upset some of the powerhouses of world cricket.
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The star player within the UAE squad is 43-year-old batsman Khurram Khan. Coming off a career best year in 2014 in which he scored 334 runs in 6 matches at a whopping average of 83.5 he will enter the tournament in top form. Having scored the first century in the history of UAE cricket he will be crucial to their chances of winning matches. Khan is an extremely powerful player who also uses his brain and is set to anchor the UAE’s batting.
Despite their steady improvement over the past five years the UAE are still only in the World Cup to make up the numbers. The primary aims for the UAE are to finish above the other minor nations and compete strongly against the top countries. I can’t see them upsetting a powerhouse side at with their only real chances of a victory coming against Ireland, Zimbabwe and possibly the West Indies.
Prediction: Knocked out in group stage
Ireland
Squad: William Porterfield (C), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew Mcbrine, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young
Now entering their third Cricket World Cup campaign Ireland will come to Australian shores with a sense of confidence as they set about trying to break into the quarterfinals. The time is now for Ireland to establish themselves as a potential test-playing nation with a strong World Cup performance this summer. Having taken out the Dubai Triangular Series in January against Afghanistan and Scotland the Irish come into the tournament with good form under their belt as they look to create some big upsets in Pool B.
The Irish have always been seen by the cricketing world as the ‘best of the rest’ as they have consistently won the associate tournaments. They stand the best chance for any associate nation of reaching the knock stage of the tournament and will definitely believe they can overcome the likes of Zimbabwe and the West Indies.
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The star of the Irish squad would have to be dynamic all rounder Kevin O’Brien. The pink haired sensation starred for Ireland in their dramatic come from behind win against the English in the 2011 World Cup by scoring a crucial super fast hundred at the death. In the past year O’Brien has been excellent with the bat amassing an impressive 245 runs from just eight games with a strike rate of 84.19. He can also chip in with the ball if called upon and take important wickets in the middle overs. Ireland’s ambitions of making the quarterfinals lie largely with O’Brien who if he gets going can tear opposition sides apart.
Despite their good form I can’t see them making the quarterfinals due to the superior class of the West Indies and Zimbabwe. I can see the Irish pulling off another magical upset in Pool B and they should steer clear of the bottom of the table.
Prediction: Knocked out in group stage
Summary
So as the Cricket World Cup draws closer all of the nations in Pool B look set to have some sort of impact on the tournament. The battle for fourth spot is set to be a tight one with the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland all in contention to claim that last spot in the knock out stage.
Watch out for: Runs, runs and more runs. Pool B is clearly dominated by the Batsmen with players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, AB De Villiers, Younus Khan and Chris Gayle featuring for their respective nations. So expect a lot more 250+ scores than usual from sides in Pool B.
Don’t Hold Your Breath: For the Indian’s to make it past the quarterfinals. They just don’t seem to adapt well to the extra bounce in the Australian pitches and the feeling of playing in front of an away crowd.
Pool B Ladder Prediction:
South Africa
Pakistan
India
West Indies
Zimbabwe
Ireland
UAE