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Australia will be the team to beat

The sides with wicket-taking bowlers will prosper, writes Vivian Richards

Barely six months after the World Cup, ICC unveils an even shorter, crisper version of the tournament. The ICC World Twenty20 will be an interesting experiment, and in many ways, it does remind me of the first World Cup in 1975.

Thirty-two years ago, we were not sure whether the one-day game would be taken seriously. A similar situation arises today, where the slapdash methods of Twenty20 leaves old-timers like myself wondering whether the skills of the game will be a casualty.

Only a handful of Twenty20 games have been played, and it has been seen that the teams that excel at the Test and one-day level dominate in this format as well. Australia have a very good record in Twenty20 games, and they would start off as favourites. Ricky Ponting joined the team late, but there is enough talent, expertise and self-belief for them to go through to the latter stages of the tournament.

While it’s assumed that bowlers the world over will be reluctant to board the flight to South Africa because of the pounding that awaits them, the sides with wicket-taking bowlers will prosper.

Sure, each team have stacked its line-up with strokeplayers, but an attacking bowler will still know that he can hold the key for his side.

The Australians have a strong attacking bowling line-up, and they certainly have the combination to beat.

I also believe that it is still pretty cold in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and batting will not be too easy. There has been some rain, and this would be good news for the bowlers. I suspect the group games between the top sides will not be as high-scoring as expected in this format, because it’s not yet peak summer in South Africa.

Apart from Australia, there are teams like New Zealand that have some experience with this format. They have many all-rounders in this format, and with bowlers like Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori, they too look like a side that has a good combination.

India and England will be coming in straight from a series, and that would mean that they are in the swing of things. It will be interesting to see India grapple with the absence of their three senior pros, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

They have a young captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and have played only one Twenty20 game so far. They do have the potential to do well, but it is one of the more inexperienced sides in the fray, and I hope the expectations are within reasonable limits this time round.

South Africa have been traditionally strong at home, and they would be keen to win a major tournament, something that has evaded them for a long time.

Their first step in this direction would be against West Indies, on Tuesday. Graeme Smith would feel that his team is tipped to win the encounter, but he would also know that West Indies have the goods to upset them, if it’s their day.

West Indies’ strength is undoubtedly their batsmen, and players like Chris Gayle would relish the Twenty20 game. However, the bowlers have not been too reliable, and a lot will depend on them. The West Indians have a good all-round talent in Dwayne Bravo, and a lot will depend on the youngster as well.

The South Africa-West Indies game that started the 2003 World Cup was a classic one, which was won by Carl Hooper’s men in the last over. The same teams now kick off this event as well. Hopefully, both teams will rise to the occasion this time as well.

Gameplan

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