Talking points ahead of the World Cup
So, the most important quadrennial event (for cricket maniacs at least) is here. This year will be special for so many reasons, and I have listed a few interesting things that I personally would be looking forward to when the grand fest of cricket starts on the 30th of May. Will England's aggression lead to them lifting the cup ? It is cliched to say these days that England are the favourites to win the World Cup. They have given strong performances over the last four years to support that popular opinion. With the bat, they are as powerful as any team has been in the last 10 years with the likes of Roy, Bairstow, Root, Morgan, Butler and the list goes on and on. Then they have their never ending list of all rounders who bat all the way till number 11 !! With the ball, they are only decent and perhaps this is their only weak link. With Jofra Archer, they might be able to fill that void as well. But then, when it's not their day, England are said to crumble badly too, and they would be hoping it's not the semi final or the final !Smith and Warner's reentry : It is something both of them must have been waiting for the last year or so. But now that their exile has ended, they might be nervous too as it isn't for granted that both of them will walk right into the playing eleven as there is some stiff competition in the Aussie batting order as they have been doing well of late. Smith has been in respectable form but Warner is on some other level, as was evident in the recently concluded IPL. Both of them will want to perform well to defend the cup for their country and also win back the trust of their countrymen.Can South Africa break the jinx ? It won't be an understatement to say that South Africa in World Cup are what the RCB are in IPL. They are the perennial underachievers when it comes to World Cups. But this time, they are without their superman, ABD. Even then, their side boasts of some serious match winners in Amla, QDK, Faf, Tahir and Rabada. As long as they avoid some silly run outs in crucial matches, they are fine(:-D) . They are one team which probably has no haters and almost everyone wants them to lift the cup at least one time. So, will it be this year, only time will tell.How competitive will Bangladesh and Afghanistan be ? The fact that both of these Asian teams are talked about in the same sentence is an accomplishment in itself for Afghanistan. They have certainly come a long way and with "world class" players like Rashid, Nabi and some upcoming talents in Mujeeb and Shahzad. While Afghanistan might be content in causing some major upsets only, Bangladesh is no longer underdogs and are a complete team. Their players, Tamim, Shakib, Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mortaza are good enough to beat any team on a given day and they are no team to settle with a few wins. I feel they have the talent to reach the semis and who knows what might happen if they play well in the knockout matches !
Talking points ahead of the World Cup
So, the most important quadrennial event (for cricket maniacs at least) is here. This year will be special for so many reasons, and I have listed a few interesting things that I personally would be looking forward to when the grand fest of cricket starts on the 30th of May. Will England's aggression lead to them lifting the cup ? It is cliched to say these days that England are the favourites to win the World Cup. They have given strong performances over the last four years to support that popular opinion. With the bat, they are as powerful as any team has been in the last 10 years with the likes of Roy, Bairstow, Root, Morgan, Butler and the list goes on and on. Then they have their never ending list of all rounders who bat all the way till number 11 !! With the ball, they are only decent and perhaps this is their only weak link. With Jofra Archer, they might be able to fill that void as well. But then, when it's not their day, England are said to crumble badly too, and they would be hoping it's not the semi final or the final !Smith and Warner's reentry : It is something both of them must have been waiting for the last year or so. But now that their exile has ended, they might be nervous too as it isn't for granted that both of them will walk right into the playing eleven as there is some stiff competition in the Aussie batting order as they have been doing well of late. Smith has been in respectable form but Warner is on some other level, as was evident in the recently concluded IPL. Both of them will want to perform well to defend the cup for their country and also win back the trust of their countrymen.Can South Africa break the jinx ? It won't be an understatement to say that South Africa in World Cup are what the RCB are in IPL. They are the perennial underachievers when it comes to World Cups. But this time, they are without their superman, ABD. Even then, their side boasts of some serious match winners in Amla, QDK, Faf, Tahir and Rabada. As long as they avoid some silly run outs in crucial matches, they are fine(:-D) . They are one team which probably has no haters and almost everyone wants them to lift the cup at least one time. So, will it be this year, only time will tell.How competitive will Bangladesh and Afghanistan be ? The fact that both of these Asian teams are talked about in the same sentence is an accomplishment in itself for Afghanistan. They have certainly come a long way and with "world class" players like Rashid, Nabi and some upcoming talents in Mujeeb and Shahzad. While Afghanistan might be content in causing some major upsets only, Bangladesh is no longer underdogs and are a complete team. Their players, Tamim, Shakib, Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mortaza are good enough to beat any team on a given day and they are no team to settle with a few wins. I feel they have the talent to reach the semis and who knows what might happen if they play well in the knockout matches !
Talking points ahead of the World Cup
So, the most important quadrennial event (for cricket maniacs at least) is here. This year will be special for so many reasons, and I have listed a few interesting things that I personally would be looking forward to when the grand fest of cricket starts on the 30th of May. Will England's aggression lead to them lifting the cup ? It is cliched to say these days that England are the favourites to win the World Cup. They have given strong performances over the last four years to support that popular opinion. With the bat, they are as powerful as any team has been in the last 10 years with the likes of Roy, Bairstow, Root, Morgan, Butler and the list goes on and on. Then they have their never ending list of all rounders who bat all the way till number 11 !! With the ball, they are only decent and perhaps this is their only weak link. With Jofra Archer, they might be able to fill that void as well. But then, when it's not their day, England are said to crumble badly too, and they would be hoping it's not the semi final or the final !Smith and Warner's reentry : It is something both of them must have been waiting for the last year or so. But now that their exile has ended, they might be nervous too as it isn't for granted that both of them will walk right into the playing eleven as there is some stiff competition in the Aussie batting order as they have been doing well of late. Smith has been in respectable form but Warner is on some other level, as was evident in the recently concluded IPL. Both of them will want to perform well to defend the cup for their country and also win back the trust of their countrymen.Can South Africa break the jinx ? It won't be an understatement to say that South Africa in World Cup are what the RCB are in IPL. They are the perennial underachievers when it comes to World Cups. But this time, they are without their superman, ABD. Even then, their side boasts of some serious match winners in Amla, QDK, Faf, Tahir and Rabada. As long as they avoid some silly run outs in crucial matches, they are fine(:-D) . They are one team which probably has no haters and almost everyone wants them to lift the cup at least one time. So, will it be this year, only time will tell.How competitive will Bangladesh and Afghanistan be ? The fact that both of these Asian teams are talked about in the same sentence is an accomplishment in itself for Afghanistan. They have certainly come a long way and with "world class" players like Rashid, Nabi and some upcoming talents in Mujeeb and Shahzad. While Afghanistan might be content in causing some major upsets only, Bangladesh is no longer underdogs and are a complete team. Their players, Tamim, Shakib, Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mortaza are good enough to beat any team on a given day and they are no team to settle with a few wins. I feel they have the talent to reach the semis and who knows what might happen if they play well in the knockout matches !
Shreyas Gopal stars as Rajasthan Royals registered their first win.
The leggie picked up three big wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Hetmyer. RR won the toss and opted to bowl first. Both the temas made certain changes to their playing eleven. RCB got off to a decent start scoring 48 in first six. But then in came the leggie who just spun a web around RCB. Shreyas Gopal as mentioned got three huge wickets. Parthiv Patel looked to be batting on a different surface as he scored 67. Stoinis brought in as replacement held one end and with Moeen Ali in the death overs finished at 158. This score looked below par. RR had a great opportunity to get the much needed two points on the table and they did that comfortably in the end. Both the openers Rahane and Buttler were off to a flier scoring 55 off first six. However Virat Kohli dropped Rahane when the batter was on 1. Chahal got the all important breakthrough by trapping Rahane in front of the stumps. Buttler meanwhile on the other hand got going and brought up his 50, second of this IPL. He too was dismissed by Chahal. Tripathi and Steve Smith made sure that there were no additional hiccups as they batted sensibly and playing risk free shots. The hosts in the end won by 7 wickets with a ball to spare. Shreyas Gopal was rightly given Man of the Match. RCB looked below par in every department specifically fielding. They had dropped catches which one would expect them to hold on to. It is high time now for RCB as they need to win 8 out of the remaining 10 matches to qualify for Play-offs.
Shreyas Gopal stars as Rajasthan Royals registered their first win.
The leggie picked up three big wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Hetmyer. RR won the toss and opted to bowl first. Both the temas made certain changes to their playing eleven. RCB got off to a decent start scoring 48 in first six. But then in came the leggie who just spun a web around RCB. Shreyas Gopal as mentioned got three huge wickets. Parthiv Patel looked to be batting on a different surface as he scored 67. Stoinis brought in as replacement held one end and with Moeen Ali in the death overs finished at 158. This score looked below par. RR had a great opportunity to get the much needed two points on the table and they did that comfortably in the end. Both the openers Rahane and Buttler were off to a flier scoring 55 off first six. However Virat Kohli dropped Rahane when the batter was on 1. Chahal got the all important breakthrough by trapping Rahane in front of the stumps. Buttler meanwhile on the other hand got going and brought up his 50, second of this IPL. He too was dismissed by Chahal. Tripathi and Steve Smith made sure that there were no additional hiccups as they batted sensibly and playing risk free shots. The hosts in the end won by 7 wickets with a ball to spare. Shreyas Gopal was rightly given Man of the Match. RCB looked below par in every department specifically fielding. They had dropped catches which one would expect them to hold on to. It is high time now for RCB as they need to win 8 out of the remaining 10 matches to qualify for Play-offs.
Shreyas Gopal stars as Rajasthan Royals registered their first win.
The leggie picked up three big wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Hetmyer. RR won the toss and opted to bowl first. Both the temas made certain changes to their playing eleven. RCB got off to a decent start scoring 48 in first six. But then in came the leggie who just spun a web around RCB. Shreyas Gopal as mentioned got three huge wickets. Parthiv Patel looked to be batting on a different surface as he scored 67. Stoinis brought in as replacement held one end and with Moeen Ali in the death overs finished at 158. This score looked below par. RR had a great opportunity to get the much needed two points on the table and they did that comfortably in the end. Both the openers Rahane and Buttler were off to a flier scoring 55 off first six. However Virat Kohli dropped Rahane when the batter was on 1. Chahal got the all important breakthrough by trapping Rahane in front of the stumps. Buttler meanwhile on the other hand got going and brought up his 50, second of this IPL. He too was dismissed by Chahal. Tripathi and Steve Smith made sure that there were no additional hiccups as they batted sensibly and playing risk free shots. The hosts in the end won by 7 wickets with a ball to spare. Shreyas Gopal was rightly given Man of the Match. RCB looked below par in every department specifically fielding. They had dropped catches which one would expect them to hold on to. It is high time now for RCB as they need to win 8 out of the remaining 10 matches to qualify for Play-offs.