ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – Crowning Glory for India

The 2011 Cricket World Cup tournament lit up our TV screens with high quality play, absolute rubbish, highlights, lowlights, pluck, timidity and a mass of other notables. Here are some of the things The Daily Maverick can praise, bewail and argue about.

Hosts winning

While we may be pretty serious fans of cricket, and sport in general, in South Africa, we are nowhere near as obsessive about it as India. The Indian team’s victory in the Final in front of their own blaring fans in their premier city is one of the most romantic scripts that could be written for the game. That they did it with a South African coach added to the gut-warming feeling we were permitted as the news channels broadcast one happy Indian fan after another.

Plucky cricket

Two teams at the tournament showed that talent isn’t the sole ingredient for success. New Zealand and Ireland both showed what a bit of grit, pressurising fielding and counter-attacking mentality can achieve. Ireland came from behind to beat England and chased down a massive Dutch score, and New Zealand knocked out South Africa when a betting man (who had never seen South Africa play in a knockout match before) would have put all of his money on the Proteas.

Umpiring

This was the first World Cup to feature the Umpire Decision Review System and has finally meant that we have statistical evidence to see which of the umpires are the best. In a show of initiative not seen since they last decided to disagree with whatever the BCCI said, the ICC actually removed the underperforming Asoka de Silva from important World Cup fixtures after he hashed a few games. Marais Erasmus, South Africa’s representative at the tournament, had a good run and, to our knowledge, only had one decision overturned.

Photo: Cricket fans celebrate in New Delhi, after India won the ICC Cricket World Cup final match against Sri Lanka, April 2, 2011. India sparked wild celebrations among their billion supporters after beating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the World Cup final at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. REUTERS/B Mathur.

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The Bad

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South Africa

It was a familiar sight to see South Africa return to Mzansi within a day of their first knockout fixture. After the farcical 1992 semi-final, the Proteas have managed to cock up the quarters in 1996, the tied semi in 1999, semis in 2009 and 2011. Add to that the fire-spittingly haemorrhaging 2003 “knockout” game against Sri Lanka and you’ll see why SA cricket fans have earned the right to government-subsidised anti-depressants.

The West Indies
We didn’t need a reminder, but we had confirmation that the swashbuckling days of swaggering batsmen and giant fast-bowlers are completely over. The West Indies folded meekly against South Africa, England, India and in the quarter-final against Pakistan. Watching Darren Sammy bowl his dibbly-dobblies at first change for the team that once produced skull- and toe-crunching bowlers like Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Curtly Ambrose was worse than sad.

The Final toss

The toss circus in the Final was a good indication that the odd batsman walking does not a dignified sport make, nor does the presence of a match-referee actually serve a purpose in a cricket match. If the game was what we wanted it to be, MS Dhoni could have just asked Kumar Sangakkarra what he had called and we all could have moved on. Had the match referee, the same one who wanted Sri Lanka batting in the dark in the 2007 Final, paid any sort of attention this could also have been avoided.

Photo: New Zealand’s wicket keeper Brendon McCullum (L) runs out South Africa’s AB de Villiers (R) during their Cricket World Cup quarter-final match in Dhaka March 25, 2011. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi.

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The Unexpected

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England

England usually fall over flat and die in the group stages of World Cups or they do very well throughout. England qualified for the Final in 1987 and 1992 (losing to Australia and Pakistan respectively) but then crashed out in the group stage of the 1996, 1999 and 2003 tournaments. This year’s Cricket World Cup had an England which managed to lose to Ireland and Bangladesh, beat South Africa, scrape a win against the Netherlands and tie with India. The Empire XI showcased one of the best batsmen of the tournament (Jonathan Trott), the innings of the tournament (Andrew Strauss’ 158 vs India), the bowling spells of the tournament (Stuart Broad’s 4/15 vs South Africa) and yet England were sent packing by Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals.

Robin Peterson

We humbly admit we had no faith in Robin Peterson when he was selected in the SA World Cup squad. We thought he had only been brought as cover for Imran Tahir and Johan Botha, and he would only get a game if one of them did themselves in. How incredibly wrong we were. With sporting pitches, Peterson was South Africa’s most successful bowler in the tournament, picking up 15 wickets at an average of 15, and he only went for 4.25 an over. Incredible stuff. He was the second most penetrative spinner and the fourth highest wicket-taker overall.

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Team of the tournament

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Absolutely the most contentious part of any World Cup review, this is our team of the tournament:

• Sachin Tendulkar
• TM Dilshan
• Jonathan Trott
• Kumar Sangakkara (c)
• Yuvraj Singh
• Mahela Jayawardene
• Mohammad Hafeez
• Shahid Afridi
• Zaheer Khan
• Tim Southee
• Ray Price/Dale Steyn
• 12th man: AB de Villiers

Tendulkar and Dilshan are no-brainer selections. Trott makes it in on sheer weight of runs, which he scored at a strike rate of more than 80. Yuvraj was man of the tournament as his scoring was up there with the best and he chipped in with 15 wickets with what look like left-arm spinners to us, but are evidently scud-missiles when one is holding a bat at 20m.

Photo: Sri Lanka’s captain and wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara speaks with Muttiah Muralitharan, who is playing in his last Cricket World Cup, after their team beat New Zealand in their ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final match in Colombo March 29, 2011. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte.

We know we left out Dhoni, the World Cup winning captain who turned the Final around India’s way, but his batting throughout the tournament wasn’t so hot. Sangakkara’s blade was far more consistent. He is paired in the middle order with Mahela Jayawardene who scored two centuries in the World Cup, including that delicious knock in the Final.

Mohammad Hafeez sneaks in ahead of Ajantha Mandis because of his superb economy rate of 3.5 and his ability to bat. He isn’t a great batsman, and his constant opening says more about Pakistan’s depth than it does about his skills. If we picked Mendis then Afridi would come in at number seven and we think that’s a place too early. We prefer Hafeez there.

Ray Price also sneaked in because of his economy rate, but his selection would be dependent on the wicket. If it suited pace bowlers Dale Steyn would come in for him. Price is an incredible player. He bowls left-arm spin with the new ball for a team that gets walloped every time it plays someone decent. To have an economy rate below 3.5 in any context is superb. While representing Zimbabwe, it is super-human.

Tim Southee and Zaheer Khan were far and away the top fast bowlers of the tournament. Southee has found an extra bit of pace which, coupled with his bounce, snagged him 18 wickets in eight games. To put that into perspective, he never took more than three wickets in a match – underlying his consistency. Compare that to Malinga – if you take away his six-wicket haul against Kenya he only took seven wickets at 33.

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2015

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A decent tournament recipe has finally been found. The complicated Super 6 and Super 8 varieties were tossed out and a round-robin format resulting in knockouts was adopted. If any tinkering were done further, we would recommend removing two of the minnow teams – Canada, Kenya and the Netherlands didn’t add much to the tournament – and hastening up the group stage by playing more than one fixture a day. The group stage in this tournament took longer than the entire FIFA World Cup did last year.

Only four years to go until the next one… DM

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Sehwag ‘fully fit’ for World Cup

Virender Sehwag missed the ODIs in South Africa to attend to the shoulder injured

Virender Sehwag, India‘s vice-captain for the World Cup, has said that he is “fully fit” for the tournament that begins on February 19. Sehwag missed India’s five-match one-day series following the Tests in South Africa to attend to a shoulder injury, but says his recovery is well on track.

“I was feeling some pain in my shoulder,” Sehwag told Indian news channel CNN-IBN. “So [I thought it was] better to quit the South Africa one-dayers. I didn’t want to get injured in South Africa tour and miss the World Cup. So I came back and went to Germany to see a couple of doctors. I got a couple of injections and now I’m fine.

“I am going to the National Cricket Academy [in Bangalore] and will spend a couple of days there, to check everything – if I can bowl and throw also but if I can’t, then I’ll let them know. But yes, at the moment I’m fully fit.”

Sehwag is wary of the opening game against Bangladesh, who had derailed India’s 2007 World Cup campaign with a shock win. “Because we’re playing the opening game against them in Bangladesh, Bangladeshi people are expecting them to beat us again. But this time we have to prepare well … You can say it is a revenge game for us and we won’t take the game lightly. We will give our best shot and we will come hard on Bangladesh.”

Sehwag was confident of India’s chances against the other major teams in Group B – South Africa, England and West Indies. “When we played against England last time, we won 5-0 and against South Africa we did well in South Africa and we have done well; when Sachin Tendulkar got the double hundred [in Gwalior], we won the series. West Indies have good players like Pollard and Gayle, if they click then maybe it’s difficult for us but India also have very good players.”

Welcome to ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

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Welcome to Cricketworldcup2011.co.in – a complete website on the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. This website would update you about ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule, Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures, Cricket World Cup 2011 venue and Cricket World Cup 2011 teams.

Cricket is considered as a religion in India and people are crazy about Cricket, especially in this part of the world. With ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 coming in the year 2011, the game would rise to new levels. If you are a Cricket fan searching for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule, Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures, Cricket World Cup 2011 venue and Cricket World Cup 2011 teams, then you need not to go elsewhere as you will get information on Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures, Cricket World Cup 2011 venue and Cricket World Cup 2011 teams and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and every other info about ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be the 10th World Cup. Prior to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, 9 Cricket World Cups have been organized by ICC. Australia have emerged winner on the most occasions – 4. Closely following is West Indies, who won the inaugural and the very next World Cup. All the Indian Subcontinent teams – India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won 1 World Cup each. Australia won in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007. West Indies won on 1975 (the first World Cup) and 1979. India won the World Cup in 1983, Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992 and Sri Lanka won in 1996.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures are given below on our website.

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<ilayer src=”http://www.s2d6.com/x/?x=i&z=i&v=2264922&r=%5BRANDOM%5D&k=%5BNETWORKID%5D&#8221; z-index=”0″ width=”160″ height=”600″>

Welcome to Cricketworldcup2011.co.in – a complete website on the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. This website would update you about ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule, Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures, Cricket World Cup 2011 venue and Cricket World Cup 2011 teams. Cricket is considered as a religion in India and people are crazy about Cricket, especially in this part of the world. With ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 coming in the year 2011, the game would rise to new levels. If you are a Cricket fan searching for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule, Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures, Cricket World Cup 2011 venue and Cricket World Cup 2011 teams, then you need not to go elsewhere as you will get information on Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures, Cricket World Cup 2011 venue and Cricket World Cup 2011 teams and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and every other info about ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. <ilayer src=”http://www.s2d6.com/x/?x=i&z=i&v=2264926&r=%5BRANDOM%5D&k=%5BNETWORKID%5D&#8221; z-index=”0″ width=”468″ height=”60″> ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be the 10th World Cup. Prior to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, 9 Cricket World Cups have been organized by ICC. Australia have emerged winner on the most occasions – 4. Closely following is West Indies, who won the inaugural and the very next World Cup. All the Indian Subcontinent teams – India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won 1 World Cup each. Australia won in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007. West Indies won on 1975 (the first World Cup) and 1979. India won the World Cup in 1983, Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992 and Sri Lanka won in 1996. ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures are given below on our website. <ilayer src=”http://www.s2d6.com/x/?x=i&z=i&v=2264928&r=%5BRANDOM%5D&k=%5BNETWORKID%5D&#8221; z-index=”0″ width=”468″ height=”60″> Match Date Teams Venue 1 19 Feb India vs Bangladesh Dhaka 2 20 Feb New Zealand vs Kenya Chennai 3 20 Feb Sri Lanka vs Canada Hambantota 4 21 Feb Australia vs Zimbabwe Ahmedabad 5 22 Feb England vs Netherlands Nagpur 6 23 Feb Pakistan vs Kenya Hambantota 7 24 Feb South Africa vs West Indies New Delhi 8 25 Feb Australia vs New Zealand Nagpur 9 25 Feb Bangladesh vs Ireland Dhaka 10 26 Feb Sri Lanka vs Pakistan Colombo 11 27 Feb India vs England Kolkata* 12 28 Feb West Indies vs Netherlands New Delhi 13 28 Feb Zimbabwe vs Canada Nagpur 14 1 Mar Sri Lanka vs Kenya Colombo 15 2 Mar England vs Ireland Bangalore 16 3 Mar South Africa vs Netherlands Mohali 17 3 Mar Pakistan vs Canada Colombo 18 4 Mar New Zealand vs Zimbabwe Ahmedabad 19 4 Mar Bangladesh vs West Indies Dhaka 20 5 Mar Sri Lanka vs Australia Colombo 21 6 Mar India vs Ireland Bangalore 22 6 Mar England vs South Africa Chennai 23 7 Mar Kenya vs Canada New Delhi 24 8 Mar Pakistan vs New Zealand Pallekelle 25 9 Mar India vs Netherlands New Delhi 26 10 Mar Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe Pallekelle 27 11 Mar West Indies vs Ireland Mohali 28 11 Mar Bangladesh vs England Chittagong 29 12 Mar India vs South Africa Nagpur 30 13 Mar New Zealand vs Canada Mumbai 31 13 Mar Australia vs Kenya Bangalore 32 14 Mar Pakistan vs Zimbabwe Pallekelle 33 14 Mar Bangladesh vs Netherlands Chittagong 34 15 Mar South Africa vs Ireland Kolkata 35 16 Mar Australia vs Canada Bangalore 36 17 Mar England vs West Indies Chennai 37 18 Mar Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Mumbai 38 18 Mar Ireland vs Netherlands Kolkata 39 19 Mar Australia vs Pakistan Colombo 40 19 Mar Bangladesh vs South Africa Dhaka 41 20 Mar Zimbabwe vs Kenya Kolkata 42 20 Mar India vs West Indies Chennai 43 23 Mar First Quarterfinal Dhaka 44 24 Mar Second Quarterfinal Colombo 45 25 Mar Third Quarterfinal Dhaka 46 26 Mar Fourth Quarterfinal Ahmedabad 47 29 Mar First Semifinal Colombo 48 30 Mar Second Semifinal Mohali 49 02 Apr FINAL Mumbai *To be confirmed. Most probably it would be played in M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru (Bangalore).

Once you bookmark this page you can view ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures anytime you like.

Cricket World Cup 2011 venue: With India as the main host of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Cricket World Cup 2011 venue includes stadiums of cities like Dhaka, Mumbai, Kolkata, Mohali, Colombo, Chennai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, chittagong and Bangalore. Cricket World Cup 2011 venue also includes new venues like Pallekelle and Hambantota – both being in Sri Lanka.

Cricket World Cup 2011 teams: Cricket World Cup 2011 teams include 4 times winner Australia, 2 times winners West Indies, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, England and Kenya. Groups in which Cricket World Cup 2011 teams are divided:

Group A – Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya.

Group B – India, South Africa, England, Bangladesh, West Indies, Netherlands and Ireland.

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Dhoni downplays Tendulkar’s role against South Africa

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OHANNESBURG: India captain MS Dhoni downplayed the role of batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar on Monday ahead of a three-Test series against South Africa. 

Much of the media hype before the first Test from Thursday at Centurion Park centres on the showdown between Tendulkar, seeking his 50th Test ton, and South Africa pace ace Dale Steyn.

But Dhoni told a media conference at the match venue that the clashes between the Tests sides ranked first and second in the world with India on top were all about teamwork.

“Cricket is a team sport and not about individuals. We place more importance on the process and how we are preparing for the Tests,” the 29-year-old right-hand batsman stressed.

“We know how much talent there is in the Indian squad. Preparing well and adapting well … these are the areas we are concentrating on right now,” he added.

South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl backed the Indian skipper: “It is an excellent Indian team and if you are talking about them, you cannot single out individuals.”

Dhoni was upbeat about the wickets amid reports South Africa are preparing pace-and-bounce-friendly ones to aid their seamers at the expense of the Indian spinners.

“Most of our cricketers are used to playing here, whether it is the shorter forms of the game or Test cricket. We will assess the wickets and decide how we need to play.”

The skipper said the Indian attack had impressed at home and abroad on wickets that were not always supportive with the bowlers adapting quickly and successfully to trigger victories.

He also dismissed statistics showing India have won only one of nine previous Tests in South Africa, stressing the series was not about history or past achievements.

South Africa received a double boost Monday when captain Graeme Smith and fellow batsman Hashim Amla were cleared to play in the first Test after recovering from injury.

Smith broke the ring finger on his leg hand in a one-day game against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates last month and Amla hurt his wrist fielding in a Test against the same country.

After Tests at Centurion, Kingsmead in Durban and Newlands in Cape Town, South Africa and India play a Twenty20 game on January 9 in Durban followed by five ODIs spread around the country.

Read more: Dhoni downplays Tendulkar’s role against South Africa – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/india-in-south-africa/top-stories/Dhoni-downplays-Tendulkars-role-against-South-Africa/articleshow/7094840.cms#ixzz180otT8Ar

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1st Test: Sachin falls after 46th century

NEW DELHI: Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed after hitting his 46th century on the fourth day of the first Test against South Africa at the VCA stadium in Nagpur on Tuesday.

Tendulkar achieved the milestone after lunch when he played a Wayne Parnell delivery to point for a single. This is Tendulkar’s first century against South Africa in India.

This is Tendulkar’s third century in as many Test matches as he got centuries in the last two Tests against Bangladesh.

But Tendulkar soon fell after his hundred edging a Paul Harris delivery onto his stumps.

Before lunch, Tendulkar survived a sharp chance in the slip cordon before reaching his 55th Test fifty to lead India to 162/4 in their second essay at lunch on Day four.

The partnership between Murali Vijay and Tendulkar produced 72 runs. The pair had got together late Monday evening after the hosts had lost openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag by the fifth over.

Tendulkar was watchful but did not spare bad balls either. He square cut Dale Steyn for his first boundary in the second over of the day and then played a wristy flick to the square leg fence for another boundary.

Tendulkar was lucky to see his glide off Wayne Parnell grassed by Jacques Kallis – the lone slip – while on 45 in first over after the first drinks break.

But two other similar shots, played with fine control, to the third man fence fetched Tendulkar his half-century. It took him only 51 balls on Day 4 to reach the landmark from his overnight 15 and included seven hits to the fence.

Indian team leaves for ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa

High on confidence after their the tri-nation Compaq Cup triumph in Sri Lanka, the Indian cricket team on Friday left to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in South Africa from September 22.

The team left by the Dubai-bound flight from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport here and from Dubai they will be taking a connecting flight to Johannesburg.

The eight-nation tournament is scheduled to take place from September 22 to October 5.

India were the joint winners along with hosts Sri Lanka in ICC Champions Trophy held in 2002.

The team will play a warm-up match against New Zealand on Septeber 20. Placed in Group A along with Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men will open their league engagements on September 26 against Pakistan.

The Squad:

Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Suresh Raina, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amith Mishra, Dinesh Karthik.

Coach: Gary Kirsten.