The 12th edition of the ICC’s Cricket World Cup enters its second week with there being no clear indication as to which teams would eventually make it to the last four to qualify for the knockout stage, although a clear picture is emerging that host England, New Zealand, India and Australia are the early runners for the spot.
The scenario could change going into the second week of the tournament with rain suddenly playing an unseen hand and splitting the points between teams so that there is always room for the unexpected to happen. After all isn’t cricket said to be a game of uncertainties?
Who would have thought that South Africa so dominant coming into the World Cup are languishing at the bottom of the pile one slot ahead of Afghanistan with just one point from four matches, and that one point too gained as a result of a no-result against West Indies in a game affected by bad weather. Faf du Plessis’s men have suffered defeats at the hands of England, Bangladesh and India and are in danger of failing to finish within the top four, unless they can turn it around and win their remaining five matches which is a big ask as they have teams like Australia and New Zealand to contend with.
Lesser fancied sides like Sri Lanka and Pakistan are ahead of South Africa at this stage of the competition which is why this league style of the World Cup is the best format to follow because all the teams are pitted with each other and the best four will finally emerge to contest the semi-finals and final. It is a better format than grouping the teams where you don’t get the chance to play some of them. This league format has been used only once in the history of the World Cup in 1992 when Australia and New Zealand hosted it, and Pakistan led by that flamboyant all-rounder Imran Khan, presently the Prime Minister of Pakistan emerged champions.
WHEN BATSMEN ARE ‘BAILED’ OUT
The 2019 World Cup is not without controversy, but it doesn’t concern any of the teams or the players but with the equipment that is being used. The piece of furniture that is in contention are the bails that are being used for the matches. Named the ‘zing’ bails because of its electronic capability to light up the moment the ball hits the stumps, it has been found that it has its shortcomings.
Five times in 13 matches of the ongoing World Cup a bowler has hit the stumps and the zing bails have lit up but stayed firmly in place, thus allowing the batsman a reprieve.
Sri Lanka’s new World Cup captain Dimuth Karunaratne is one of the five batsmen to be given a second chance. In Sri Lanka’s opening match against New Zealand at Cardiff, Karunaratne at nine chopped a ball from New Zealand quick Trent Boult on to his stumps, hard enough to shake the bails but not dislodge them.
Karunaratne went onto carry his bat out for 52 not out while his team was dismissed for 136 to lose the contest by ten wickets.
The other four instances involve batsman Quinton de Kock and bowler Adil Rashid in the opening match between England and South Africa, Chris Gayle and Mitchell Starc - Australia v West Indies, Mohammad Saifudeen and Ben Stokes - England v Bangladesh and, David Warner and Jasprit Bumrah - India v Australia.
India captain Virat Kohli said: "This is not something you expect at international level. You literally have to smash the stumps really hard to knock them out. These are fast bowlers; these are not medium-pace bowlers. No team will like to see that - if you bowl a good ball and you don't get a guy out."
Kohli was supported by former England captain Michael Vaughan who described it as “ridiculous” on BBC Test Match Special.
"It's 80-odd miles per hour and it has hit leg stump," said Vaughan. "If you're not getting out when you're getting bowled, it's a concern. Something needs to be done. It's madness."
The zing bails have been in use since 2012, and featured in the last World Cup in 2015. There were also problems with them in the recent Indian Premier League.
The International Cricket Council has defended the electronic zing bails, saying their use won’t be reviewed, and they’re actually lighter than regular wooden bails. And fortunately for the ICC, all the instances in the 2019 World Cup have not been crucial, so far.
“It does seem to be happening more and more, which is unfortunate, because you’d hate to see something like that happen in a World Cup final or a semifinal,” Australia captain Aaron Finch said.
The ICC certainly has a tricky situation on their hands to make the World Cup free of any controversy that may possibly tarnish the image of such an important mega event.
Add new comment