Kallis says T20 effect will be seen in World Cup

NEW DELHI: Both West Indies and South Africa are banking on their Indian Premier League stars, some of them senior players with ample experience of sub-continental conditions, to bail them out in the World Cup. The challenge begins with their first encounter at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Thursday, on a notoriously low, slow pitch which is largely an unknown factor. The Kotla has endured a year-long suspension and is going into this major event without having staged any big games.

South Africa's talismanic Jacques Kallis, returning from a recent rib injury, said he was not overtly concerned about the quality of the surface but added that "it's probably not going to be a 300-350 pitch". He agreed SA's first game, and also the first post-IPL World Cup, could swing the way of players with more T20 and local experience.

"T20 has changed the way players approach both ODIs and Tests. In ODIs now, batsmen take more risks and have developed new strokes. Teams don't panic when the asking rate goes up while bowlers also have developed new skills. T20 has been a revelation for the game," Kallis said.

At the Kotla, the ability of both teams to size up conditions quickly and plan their innings accordingly could prove crucial, making past IPL stints on such pitches an invaluable experience. SA are undoubtedly the better placed here, with as many as 9 players in the squad having played in the IPL, the third-best behind sub-continent teams India (all 15) and Sri Lanka (11).

Skipper Graeme Smith, Johan Botha, AB De Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn and Morne Van Wyk are no strangers to slow conditions, but the Windies aren't far behind with six stars boasting IPL experience. Their most important performers - Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Shiv Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach and Ramnaresh Sarwan - have all had a taste of the sub-continent during past IPL tourneys.

"We have 5-6 players who took part in the IPL or are still associated with it," said Dwayne Bravo, "They know the conditions, so that exposure will come in handy. IPL has helped them to know how to play here."

Of course, WI and SA aren't the only 'outsiders' who are by now well-versed in Indian conditions. The Australian World Cup squad has eight players who have featured in past IPLs, and New Zealand have seven. If Kallis' prognosis pans out, then England, with only 4 IPL players in their squad, have their task cut out. It will be interesting to watch teams adapt.

For Thursday's game, both sides are expecting low scores and spin-friendly conditions at the Kotla, making the middle overs crucial to the outcome of the match.

Different strokes at 2011 World Cup

Gone are the days when in Test match, a team would score around 220 runs in a day. Later, with the advent of one-dayers, the scoring rate increased to around 250 runs in a day. However, with the latest T20 format, the teams are scoring in the vicinity of over 300 runs in the 90 overs of play.

That has really made the Test matches quite interesting. More longer-version ties are producing results as was seen in the recent Ashes series in Australia.

The quality of cricket, too, was top class and it was good to see Test cricket in healthy condition. It’s up to every cricket board to ensure better quality of wickets and infrastructure to lure the crowds to five-day cricket simply because if Test format survives, cricket will survive.

However, the T20 format has really changed the face of the game. In the past, nobody could imagine that a batsman would score a double hundred in a 50-over game. Well, it requires tremendous fitness to not only bat for that long but score briskly as well. 

Sachin played a glorious knock to achieve this improbable feat against the Proteas only recently. I guess it was possible only because cricketers are nowadays playing in the T20 format.

While on Sachin, he is the one who has always improvised in different situations and adapted to the conditions beautifully. He innovated and played the upper-cut with authority, slashed hard at anything short outside the off-stump that went over the third man and into the stands, played reverse sweep with elan and 

executed paddle sweep with great delight.

Under the circumstances, it becomes difficult for a captain to place the field. The bowlers, too, become clueless as to what line or length they have to bowl. A captain can manage it in a T20 format, but if it happens in a 50-over game, he really has to think out of the box to stop the run flow.

I guess this World Cup, too, will be a litmus testfor the captains and the bowlers with batsmen adapting to different shots and tactics. They will have to have more options if that happens.

Only recently, I watched tennis ball cricket in Mumbai with great interest. The ball used, of course, is heavier and harder than the normal tennis ball but the strategies of the captains and the bowlers are really interesting to say the least.

They are absolutely unconventional and while batting they employ more reverse sweeps to perfection. They hit it hard and manage to clear the ground by a few yards. The bowlers, not to be outdone or outsmarted, vary their line, length and speed to be effective.

The man of the match even gets a car as a present and the matches are normally watched by as many as 10,000 people. I wonder when was the last time a Ranji game fetched so much crowd!

Different strokes at 2011 World Cup

Gone are the days when in Test match, a team would score around 220 runs in a day. Later, with the advent of one-dayers, the scoring rate increased to around 250 runs in a day. However, with the latest T20 format, the teams are scoring in the vicinity of over 300 runs in the 90 overs of play.

That has really made the Test matches quite interesting. More longer-version ties are producing results as was seen in the recent Ashes series in Australia.

The quality of cricket, too, was top class and it was good to see Test cricket in healthy condition. It’s up to every cricket board to ensure better quality of wickets and infrastructure to lure the crowds to five-day cricket simply because if Test format survives, cricket will survive.

However, the T20 format has really changed the face of the game. In the past, nobody could imagine that a batsman would score a double hundred in a 50-over game. Well, it requires tremendous fitness to not only bat for that long but score briskly as well. 

Sachin played a glorious knock to achieve this improbable feat against the Proteas only recently. I guess it was possible only because cricketers are nowadays playing in the T20 format.

While on Sachin, he is the one who has always improvised in different situations and adapted to the conditions beautifully. He innovated and played the upper-cut with authority, slashed hard at anything short outside the off-stump that went over the third man and into the stands, played reverse sweep with elan and 

executed paddle sweep with great delight.

Under the circumstances, it becomes difficult for a captain to place the field. The bowlers, too, become clueless as to what line or length they have to bowl. A captain can manage it in a T20 format, but if it happens in a 50-over game, he really has to think out of the box to stop the run flow.

I guess this World Cup, too, will be a litmus testfor the captains and the bowlers with batsmen adapting to different shots and tactics. They will have to have more options if that happens.

Only recently, I watched tennis ball cricket in Mumbai with great interest. The ball used, of course, is heavier and harder than the normal tennis ball but the strategies of the captains and the bowlers are really interesting to say the least.

They are absolutely unconventional and while batting they employ more reverse sweeps to perfection. They hit it hard and manage to clear the ground by a few yards. The bowlers, not to be outdone or outsmarted, vary their line, length and speed to be effective.

The man of the match even gets a car as a present and the matches are normally watched by as many as 10,000 people. I wonder when was the last time a Ranji game fetched so much crowd!