What Next???

Finally the world cup is over and the teams that exceeded the expectations are celebrating while others are reviewing their performance.It is now a known fact that the world cup is held for identifying the second best team in the world.Perhaps world cups should be held without the Aussies participating in it from now onwards.

During the period in which the Caribbeans dominated the world of cricket there always was a team to challenge their dominance.But now the cricketing world is turning out to be a unidimensional world with the rampaging Kangaroos destroying everything in their way.This is not good for cricket as such.

No one wants to see their team being thrashed all the time.A sport will be exciting only when there is some competition in that.A recent study showed that even the Aussie fans are fed up with the sight of their team thrashing other teams.Close games win more fans than a one sided game.The best example is the Ashes series that took place this year.It was very much a hyped series and everyone expected tight contests.So the grounds were filled with spectators unlike the previous Ashes series that took place down under.Even though the series turned out to be a one sided affair,the people in Australia came out to watch cricket hoping that they get a good match.So it is a necessity for cricket to survive(even in Australia) that Australia loose.But unfortunately it is not happening.

Last time it was India.This time it was Srilanka.The Aussies raise their performance level when it matters the most and that I feel is the basic difference between them and other teams.It has not only been the ability of the players that enabled them to win the cup but also the shrewd captaincy shown by Ricky Ponting.What I feel is that Australia will come down to the normal level once Ponting retires.But even if that happens it will happen only after another 5-6 years.But then the samething was expected when Steve Waugh retired.Against all believes they went on to win the cup in 2003.After the home series against England and the Chappel-Hadlee trophy the Aussies were considered as outsiders to win the cup.But when it mattered they turned it around.So that is what they are made up of.It will need an unbelievable team effort to topple them from their position now.

In the next post I shall tell about the team that I expect to end this unbelievable run of the Aussies

Who will stop the Aussie Juggernaut??

Well, the Kangaroos have demolished all their opponents so far in this world cup. But time has come to put an end to their long winning streak. But who? Will it be the unpredictable Proteas in the semis? Or will it be the roaring Lankans or the hard fighting Kiwis in the final?

The South Africans are the strongest contenders to beat Australia, because history backs them. They have always been the unlucky team in the world cups, but this might just be their cup! In 1975, the Caribbeans came from the brink of getting knocked out of the world cup, to go on to win the cup! History repeated itself when the underdogs of 1983 world cup led by Kapil Dev snatched the coveted cup! Then in 1992, the Pakistan team came from nowhere to beat all the odds and win the world cup, inspired by the legendary Imran Khan! Then in 1999, the Australians fought back from the jaws of defeat led by the shrewd Waugh.All these teamswere almost out of the tounament before they bounced back to win the cup in alternate editions.This points to a fact that this year the winner will be the team who has seen the doors of exit and that is none other than South Africa.

The Proteas are the ones whom the Aussies fear the most given the form of Smith and Gibbs.One can never forget the way in which they chased down the mammoth 434.This world cup has not been the best for the Proteas.But they always give their best when the situation demands,with great players Kallis,Pollock,Boucher etc in great form.

The Lankans are also capable of upsetting the Aussies.The Aussies have only lost two tournament finals in the last decade and one amongst them was the Islanders beating them inthe 1996 finals.Australians only weakness is spin,which is the biggest strength of Srilankans in the form of the wily Muttiah Muralitharan.On their day they can beat any team convincingly.Srilanka is the most complete team in this world cup ,given their varied bowling attack suiting all types of pitches.With Jayasuriya ,Malinga and evergreen Murali intremendous form they have had a great run in this world cup .They were tamed only by the Aussies and a revenge is overdue.

The Kiwis were the hot favourites till they were demolished by the Aussies.They were lucky with the toss when they came against the big boys in this cup.They would more of this luck to beat two top teams in consecutive matches.The biggest challenge is the match against Srilankans where they will be up against the spin wizard Murali.


It seems that the Kangaroos are unstoppable.But history points to yet another upset in this edition of world cup.A SouthAfrican triumph will be a perfect tribute to Bob Woolmer who made them what they are now.