Tag Archives: World Cup 2011 results

India hasn’t beaten a Test-Playing team (except B’desh) in WC since 8 years and 10 matches!!!

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After India’s disappointing loss to South Africa in their group B match at Nagpur on March 12, questions have started rising whether India really has in it to win the World Cup 2011. Before the start of the WC 2011, the cricket fanatics in India and a section of the media undoubtedly labeled India as the biggest favorites to win the cup. In fact, there was a common assumption that only Dhoni’s men can win the cup.

But after India’s performance in the ongoing world cup and a shocking statistic which it gives rise to, one can conclude that India needs nothing short than a miracle to lift the cup. The shocking statistic is that India hasn’t beaten a single test-playing team (except Bangladesh) in a World Cup match since eight years! In other words, India hasn’t defeated a strong team in their last 10 WC matches! So can they still be called even near favorites to win the cup?

India’s last 10 performances in WC matches are as follows: –

  • India v/s Kenya (2003 WC Semi Final at Durban) – India beat Kenya by 91 runs
  • India v/s Australia (2003 WC Final at Johannesburg) – Australia beat India by 125 runs
  • India v/s Bangladesh (2007 WC Group B match at Trinidad) – Bangladesh beat India by 5 wickets
  • India v/s Bermuda (2007 WC Group B match at Trinidad) – India beat Bermuda by 257 runs
  • India v/s Sri Lanka (2007 WC Group B match at Trinidad) – Sri Lanka beat India by 69 runs
  • India v/s Bangladesh (2011 WC Group B match at Dhaka) – India beat Bangladesh by 87 runs
  • India v/s England (2011 WC Group B match at Bangalore) – Match tied
  • India v/s Ireland (2011 WC Group B match at Bangalore) – India beat Ireland by 5 wickets
  • India v/s Netherlands (2011 WC Group B match at Delhi) – India beat Netherlands by 5 wickets
  • India v/s South Africa (2011 WC Group B match at Nagpur) – South Africa beat India by 3 wickets

We can also say that in India’s last 6 games against test playing teams (including Bangladesh); India has managed to win just once and that too against Bangladesh! It was against New Zealand in the Super Six stage of 2003 WC that India last beat a strong team in a WC and that was on March 14, 2003 (exactly 8 years ago).

So, forget winning the World Cup, India first needs to beat a strong test playing team. And to win the cup, India needs to beat 4 strong teams in a row. But it looks like our captain cool Dhoni isn’t aware of this as he looks satisfied beating minnows. When it was pointed out to Dhoni that India struggled to beat a team like Netherlands, he said, “Look at the scorecard. It says India won by 5 wickets.” Such a huge achievement to beat Netherlands, Dhoni?

Will we be able to win the World Cup if we are just satisfied beating teams like Netherlands? Considering India hasn’t beaten a single strong team in their last 10 WC outings, will they be able to beat 4 in a row? It looks tougher than climbing Mount Everest especially with our bowling attack. Of course, being a strong Indian supporter, I will be highly glad if I am proved wrong by Dhoni’s men.

Ireland At ICC’s Mercy

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By: Keyur Seta

The whole cricketing world is going gaga over the heroics achieved by Ireland in the ongoing 2011 Cricket World Cup despite being just an associate nation. And why not? The men in light green have rubbished off the title of ‘minnows’ associated with them by their infamous world record victory against England and by showing fight and determination against other teams as well.

But Ireland’s success story reminds us of the heroic feat achieved by Kenya in the 2003 World Cup where they shocked everyone and managed to reach the semi-finals. (Even their victory against the West Indies in the 1996 World Cup is still fresh in cricket lovers’ minds). This was considered as the rise of the Kenyan cricket by many and a possible chance of gaining a status of a test-playing nation. Sadly, that was not to be. Kenya never really managed anything after their World Cup fairytale.

The obvious reason for this appears Kenya’s poor performance. But I strongly feel that the International Cricket Council (ICC) is mostly responsible for this. For a well performing associate team, it is necessary that they continuously get international exposure and that too against strong opponents.  Right after the 2003 WC, Kenya played just a four nation series in Sharjah and that too because the Indian team wasn’t available. But after that series, Kenya played just two one-day internationals in the next three years (Wikipedia)!

By ignoring such a well performing associate team, one is forced to question whether the ICC wants the game to spread in more and more countries. On and off, these associate teams do play against other associate teams but if they really need to grow as a full-fledged cricket team, they need to play regularly against stronger test-playing nations.

In the summer of 1998, there was a triangular series in India featuring India, Kenya and Bangladesh. Such series are the need of the hour for associate teams. Surely, it shouldn’t be difficult for the ICC to hold such tournaments regularly. Audience attendance won’t be a problem as one can see large number of supporters of Ireland, Netherlands, Canada, etc thronging the stadiums during their matches. So, revenue won’t be a problem for the ICC, if that is what is bothering them.

And all that talk of scrapping the associate teams from playing in World Cups is annoying! Only those who are against the growth of the game can think this way. Agreed, the matches can be boring when a strong team thrashes an associate one. But then, you have every option of not watching such matches; no one is forcing you.

One just hopes Ireland doesn’t follow Kenya’s fate because of ICC’s cold-shouldering. After all, organizing exciting and interesting cricket matches is not just all. Spreading this great game far and wide is equally important.