UNDATED: The stage is all set for a marvellous battle between the top 10 cricket sides of the world, to play for the most sought after trophy, The World Cup. England being the host nation and the country that has historically been instrumental in projecting and popularising cricket, has that aura like nowhere else.
A World Cup final win on July 14, at the Mecca of cricket, “Lords”, is what each team would be wishing for and would be remembered for years to come. The venue itself, with a well preserved museum and cricket artefacts brings forth a feeling of nostalgia among cricket lovers and followers of the game.
Each side is in the process of selecting their cricket warriors considering the skills and acumen required to not only beat their nine other rivals, but also to withstand the vagaries of the English weather. The climate change that the world is facing, has made it even more difficult to predict as to what one may encounter and therefore, selecting the right players could become a major factor for all the sides.
A tricky situation, as sides will need to ensure that they have the right arsenal of quick bowlers and spinners in their fold to be able to counter either a hot, humid or a wet and dreary English day.
The Indian cricket selectors, the wise-men of Indian cricket, are expected to announce the Indian team for the World Cup on Monday (April 15). The irony is that none of them have played International cricket in England or have been a part of a World Cup side. Fortunately for them, they have the experience and knowledge of the Indian coach, Ravi Shastri and Captain Virat Kohli to support them. Both Ravi and Virat have been a part of a World Cup winning side in 1983 and in 2011, respectively.
Furthermore, India’s tour to England last summer should have given the selectors a good insight into all the prospective players, as apart from the India side, the India A side was also touring England. One hopes that the think tank of selectors, have done enough preparation, as with nine matches at the league stage with each team playing against each other, every side will need a good bench strength of players, to support and replace, if the initial plans go awry.
The core of the Indian side, as highlighted by many newspaper reports after interviewing captain Kohli and the Chairman of the Selection Committee, seems to be quite straight forward. The statement that the IPL will have no bearing on the selection is to me a bizarre one.
An astute politician once told me and quite rightly so, he said: “The Indian public has a short memory span, ‘at most times they forget in less than three days'”. Therefore, the performance of players in the IPL, will definitely have a bearing whether the wise men of the Indian Selection Committee accept it or not. The public opinion and the present form of the players has always been the way teams have been selected in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (IANS)
