It was just in the last year that we were witness to a T20 World Cup in England. That another world cup is being held approximately nine months later can be put down to greed of ICC to encash on the T20 phenomena or as many say, just poor scheduling. Whatever be the case, it will be the players that will suffer in the long run
Its an opportunity for the ICC to remove the demons from the poorly conducted 2007 World Cup. Last heard, they gave their nod to musical instruments to be bought into the stadium and also the ticket prices are not as steep as they were back in 2007
With the groupings also being a little tougher this time, its expected that T20 World Cup will be a better experience this time
GROUP-A: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia
Who would have imagined that Australis would be seeded not to go to the next round in a multi team tournament. With due respect to their record in World Cups and Champions Trophy, they are yet to solve the riddle called as Twenty20
Pakistan on the other hand come into the tournament as defending champions and have lot to live upto. The recent upheaval after the tour of Australia would be certainly playing on their minds. If there is any team that can overcome the events, its Pakistan
Bangladesh batsmen are considered to trigger happy and its not undue to expect them to perform well in this version. The problem is collapses still persist but this time around they give a hope of turning round the corner
Predictions: This group can be called as the official "Group of death" as all the three teams are Test playing countries. Its expected that it will boil down to Net Run Rate(NRR), where the teams will finish with one win each. Expect Pakistan and Australia to qualify
Group-B: Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka had a dream run in the last World Cup until juggernaut was stopped by Pakistan in the final. A reprise will not disappoint them given the form of their batsmen
New Zealand are the perennial dark horses and the story is no different this time too. Will look to come to the semis and take it from there
If the warm up games are any indicators, Zimbabwe would certainly be the form team as they defeated Australia and Pakistan. The question on the fans lips though is, have they peaked too early? and will the law of averages catch up with them
Predictions: Even though Zimbabwe will be a tough cookie to crack, Sri Lanka and New Zealand can expect to go through
Group-C: South Africa, India, Afghanistan
South Africa like always start as one of the favorites with the evolution of Jacques Kallis as a T20 player. as has been their wont, their plans are upset with regularity in multi team tournaments. They would want it to be set right this time round
India on the back of their performances in IPL, enter the fray as one of the favorites and would look to avoid last years results. Low bounce in the pitches means advantage to their expansive batsmen
Afghanistan are the sentimental favorites and rightly so as they scaled up to this level from division 5. They would like to create an upset and want the world to take notice
Predictions: Although an upset by Afghanistan can't be entirely ruled out. India and South Africa can expect to make their way into the next round comfortably
Group-D: West Indies, England, Ireland
If Captain Gayle is in form, he is expected to take them into the semi's single-handedly with supporting acts coming from the likes of Chanderpaul and Bravo. Pollard will be expected to perform on the world stage
England are the most likeliest of the Test playing nations to go out of the tournament in the First round. They would need performances of the highest order to keep them afloat
Ireland would like to cause an upset and match their performance of last year. They would certainly count themselves lucky as they are grouped with the blow hot blow cold teams
Predictions: In whats expected to be a titanic struggle for qualification, West Indies/England and Ireland can expect to go through
Its an opportunity for the ICC to remove the demons from the poorly conducted 2007 World Cup. Last heard, they gave their nod to musical instruments to be bought into the stadium and also the ticket prices are not as steep as they were back in 2007
With the groupings also being a little tougher this time, its expected that T20 World Cup will be a better experience this time
GROUP-A: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia
Who would have imagined that Australis would be seeded not to go to the next round in a multi team tournament. With due respect to their record in World Cups and Champions Trophy, they are yet to solve the riddle called as Twenty20
Pakistan on the other hand come into the tournament as defending champions and have lot to live upto. The recent upheaval after the tour of Australia would be certainly playing on their minds. If there is any team that can overcome the events, its Pakistan
Bangladesh batsmen are considered to trigger happy and its not undue to expect them to perform well in this version. The problem is collapses still persist but this time around they give a hope of turning round the corner
Predictions: This group can be called as the official "Group of death" as all the three teams are Test playing countries. Its expected that it will boil down to Net Run Rate(NRR), where the teams will finish with one win each. Expect Pakistan and Australia to qualify
Group-B: Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka had a dream run in the last World Cup until juggernaut was stopped by Pakistan in the final. A reprise will not disappoint them given the form of their batsmen
New Zealand are the perennial dark horses and the story is no different this time too. Will look to come to the semis and take it from there
If the warm up games are any indicators, Zimbabwe would certainly be the form team as they defeated Australia and Pakistan. The question on the fans lips though is, have they peaked too early? and will the law of averages catch up with them
Predictions: Even though Zimbabwe will be a tough cookie to crack, Sri Lanka and New Zealand can expect to go through
Group-C: South Africa, India, Afghanistan
South Africa like always start as one of the favorites with the evolution of Jacques Kallis as a T20 player. as has been their wont, their plans are upset with regularity in multi team tournaments. They would want it to be set right this time round
India on the back of their performances in IPL, enter the fray as one of the favorites and would look to avoid last years results. Low bounce in the pitches means advantage to their expansive batsmen
Afghanistan are the sentimental favorites and rightly so as they scaled up to this level from division 5. They would like to create an upset and want the world to take notice
Predictions: Although an upset by Afghanistan can't be entirely ruled out. India and South Africa can expect to make their way into the next round comfortably
Group-D: West Indies, England, Ireland
If Captain Gayle is in form, he is expected to take them into the semi's single-handedly with supporting acts coming from the likes of Chanderpaul and Bravo. Pollard will be expected to perform on the world stage
England are the most likeliest of the Test playing nations to go out of the tournament in the First round. They would need performances of the highest order to keep them afloat
Ireland would like to cause an upset and match their performance of last year. They would certainly count themselves lucky as they are grouped with the blow hot blow cold teams
Predictions: In whats expected to be a titanic struggle for qualification, West Indies/England and Ireland can expect to go through
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