ICC World T20 2014 Preview: A prelude to the biennial bash

A team which twice experienced the feel of a finale yet failed to cross the final frontier. Pitted in an easier group, Sri Lanka ought to sail thorough to the final four without much of a hassle. The side has been among the more consistent ones in the events where the stakes are huge. With a street smart captain, two lynchpins of modern day cricket manning the middle order and a power hitting ensemble of a lower order to finish it off, the Lankans do look a perfect T20 meal personified.

‘Slinga’ Malinga resembles a machine delivering toe crushers with inhuman precision which could put even a master marksman to shame. And with Ajanta Mendis rediscovering some of his lost guile, Sri Lanka look set to top a group which really doesn’t sport of too many sides known for their adeptness in facing the turning ball. With Sanga and Mahela set to bid adieu to T20 over cricket post the World T20, the Lions would be looking to go a step further than their previous tryst to encrypt an epic farewell to their most accomplished of warriors.

Lasith Malinga still remains the most dangerous death bowler around

Bring on a top dog ICC event and it is the underdog that comes out on top. New Zealand has been a fairly consistent side in ICC events and I would pick the Kiwis over the Proteas just for the simple reason that the latter “chokes” during big chit stuff. A tinge of humour perhaps, but on form, New Zealand looks a side ready to pack a punch, providing great ROI’s for the fans’ bucks.

Brendon McCullum looks in fine touch and led the wreckage from the front in blanking the Indians on home soil. Kane Williamson along with Ross Taylor forms the batting’s bacon, a string of impressive shows in recent times driving home his credentials, but it is the emergence of a true fast bowling all-rounder by the name of Corey Anderson that takes the cake. A brute of a man, Anderson has become an overnight sensation, spooking bowlers in a format that has always been branded a batters’ haven. No doubt, the new kid on the block will be cynosure of attraction at the biggest stage of them all.

The lack of a proper spinner indeed makes a loophole blaringly evident. But a pace attack with boisterous brusqueness supplements a batting line up which indeed is one higher on substance than on sleek. The Kiwis, from a team of abstemiousness have metamorphosed into a side battle ready to lock horns with the big boys.

Surprises will be the cult, and abnormality the order of the tourney. Dark horses will transform into white knights within a wink. As I pen this piece, India has lost another match albeit a practice one. It just seems like an extended nightmare. India is yet to win a game against a top ranked counterpart in 2014. I am just hoping against hope to wake up from this prolonged slumber and let the epiphany dawn on me as the deleteriousness accompanying a nightmare.

Certainly not the favourites, it would magnificent if the breeze of change blows with full vigour inducing a turn for the better. It all started with an unexpected triumph in 2007, post a stormy era under Chappell’s regime. In more ways than one, Indian cricket has hit rock bottom once again. As they say, the night is darkest before the dawn. And the dawn is bound to break in, sooner or later. A revival of fortunes may be in close proximity.

The World T20 will of course be accompanied by the regular discourse depicting abhorrence and acrimony to the game’s supersonic format from the purist’s lounge. Let us detract ourselves from the critics’ concern, at least for the time being. Remove those saturnine cloaks and plunge into the realm of crazy, delirious action at frenetic rates. The game in general and fans in particular need this dose of unblemished exuberance. They deserve it for making the game what it is. Cricket owes it to them.