The biggest sporting event on the planet this week will be played on Sunday evening in Australia.
From about 7pm (AEDT); 1.30pm in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai; 1pm in Lahore, Karachi, Sheikhpura and various points in the Hindu Kush; along the Karakoram Highway and across the Grand Trunk Route, TV sets and electronic devices will be charged and tuned. The audience will extend across the globe. Never has the term “broadcast” been more appropriate. The subcontinental diaspora will be glued to the footage emanating from the MCG.
Whoever in the ICC office organised the schedule for this successive-year Twenty20 World Cup can take a bow. The qualifying games, which represent a mini-tournament in their own right, have been gripping. Major powers the West Indies and Sri Lanka have felt the blowtorch and anxiety-inducing desire of the semi-professionals. The standard of the next tier of countries is rising across the board. The increased opportunities they have received through COVID-shortened intervals between World Cups has been a factor in their ability to compete with the elite.
India and Pakistan have not had to endure the grind or unwanted pressure of qualification as their world rankings gained them automatic inclusion. Both teams have enjoyed pre-tournament success in lead-up series, but India skipper Rohit Sharma has rightly pointed to the differing conditions of higher bounce and broader boundaries down south, and his team arrived two weeks early in an attempt to adapt.
Sharma and his opening partner KL Rahul will have to be flexible. The new ball in Australia generally gives bowlers something to work with, be it a few degrees of swing, a centimetre of seam or an extra coil of bounce – but not for too many overs. The La Nina weather phenomenon could play a role on the east coast, while games in the centre or west may be more traditional.
All that extra moisture is bound to affect both pitch and atmosphere, making new-ball batting a spicier examination than normal, which would be kind of nice. Sharma, Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli versus Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah should make for appetising viewing, magnified by a rapacious MCG crowd.
Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam. Credit:Getty
India fell at the Super 12 stage of last year’s World Cup under Kohli’s leadership. With the massive prima facie advantage of conducting the world’s premier T20 franchise competition, it is surprising they haven’t had any ICC trophy success in the format since its inaugural World Cup in 2007, with MS Dhoni at the helm.
The IPL and subsequent global T20 events were spawned from that famous Wanderers final when India prevailed over Pakistan in a last-over thriller. The teams played out a tie in the group stage, the result decided by the now defunct “bowl out” (a much more entertaining and efficient method for breaking a deadlock) with the unlikely triumvirate of Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa and Harbhajan Singh (OK, not so unlikely from “Bhaji”) getting a perfect record while Pakistan’s yorker geniuses Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi all missed.
In their defence, they had been sitting in the dugout for almost two hours on a cool Durban evening and were given just 10 minutes to warm up. It might have been fairer to set up a dartboard in the dressing room and have three arrows each at the bull.
The first T20 World Cup was so successful that within two years the second edition arrived, this time in England. Pakistan made up for the loss to their Radcliffe Line neighbours by knocking over Sri Lanka in the final at Lord’s. India have underwhelmed ever since.
Cricket fans on the subcontinent will be glued to their TVs on Sunday.Credit:Getty
India are not favoured highly in this tournament. Their batting looks good without being dynamic, especially given Kohli’s patchy form; and the bowling without Jasprit Bumrah’s oomph (I refer to my earlier comments on Australian pitches) lacks incision. Outside ICC events, India have had success on their turning pitches but the spin of Ravi Ashwin, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal will not be as influential on Australian surfaces.
The MCG hasn’t shown signs of turn since Jim Higgs twirled his wristies. After a very damp week south (and north) of the Murray, I don’t expect that to change. Pakistan look more widely equipped, with batting all-rounders and genuine speed. Babar Azam is in his prime and his partnerships with Mohammad Rizwan have set Pakistan on course to recent victories. Once again, the new-ball battles will be decisive.
The crowd in Jolimont will be primarily of Indian origin and foreground. The local and travelling India supporters will be engaged and noisy but Pakistan will bring their own volume. The neutrals will choose a side. India–Pakistan contests are rare but the fervour for their sporting battles remains.
The Australia v New Zealand fixture on Saturday at the SCG promised skill, entertainment and maybe a little needle from the Oceania rivals but the MCG showdown on Sunday is simply mouthwatering. A clash of cricket similarities and common denominators rather than a flashpoint of nationalism. A close game for sure, but I don’t want to see another “bowl off”.
Watch the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now
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