With the 2011 World Cup around the corner, speculation on the probable champions has started to rise. Australia has dominated the competition for a long time winning the Cup 3 consecutive times, in 1999, 2003 and 2007. This time, however, many fear that the 4-time World Cup winners will face a much stiffer challenge to reclaim the title.
An interesting fact to notice is that in all their previous three wins, Australia has faced the three Asian giants in the final. 1999 was the year when Wasim Akram’s Pakistan failed miserably after scoring just 132 runs in the final. The 2003 final saw Indian bowlers being smashed to all parts of the ground in South Africa. In 2007, Sri Lanka were hoping to replicate their 1996 World Cup win but failed.
Another stat regarding Asian teams in the tournament is that in the previous 5 ICC World Cups, there has been an Asian team in the Final. In 1992, Pakistan won their only ODI World Cup under the influential captaincy of Imran Khan. In the following 1996 competition, Sri Lanka beat Australia in the final at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Pakistan.
Considering the fact that the 2011 World Cup is being played in Asia, the three mighty Asian teams have a good chance of winning the tournament. The list of for probable semi-finalists, however, is easily topped by India.
1. India: One of the greatest batsmen of all time, Sir Viv Richards, has labelled India as the favourites for the 2011 tournament. Under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, India has developed a formidable team which will be difficult to beat on home soil. A batting line up which includes the little master Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yousaf Pathan, Dhoni and the inform Virat Kohli, can demolish any bowling attack. Perhaps the only worry the Indian camp has is the lack of pace in their bowling attack which is held together by only Zaheer Khan.
2. Australia: Australia might not be as strong a team as they were a couple of years back, nonetheless, it is still hard to rule out a team which has made it to the final in the previous four attempts. The Kangaroos have managed to reach the final of the World Cup 6 times in the 9 tournaments held so far. As a Captain, Ricky Ponting has a remarkable 100% record in the competition. Australia have won all 22 matches played under his leadership. Their experience in the tournament is bound to come in handy even with this less high profile team.
3. Sri Lanka: This will be spin-wizard Muttiah Muralitharan’s final World Cup outing and he will surely be looking to end his illustrious ODI career on a high. On World Cup pitches, which are expected to support spin bowling, Murali’s magic can single-handedly win games for Sri Lanka. He will be supported by the Lasith Malinga in the bowling department, who will be looking to exploit batsmen with his reverse swing. The batting will be anchored by Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene and players like Tillakaratne Dilshan will look to impose themselves on the opposition.
4. Pakistan: Most people will be surprised to see this name in the list as Pakistan has failed to secure an ODI series win since 2008. However, given the fact that the World Cup will be played in conditions similar to Pakistan, this unpredictable team has the ability to cause an upset. With players like captain Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Akhtar, who can win matches single-handedly, Pakistan can go on to win their second World Cup title.
