Tuesday 13 March 2007

Who I'll Be Watching This Season

Is there a more enthralling sight in the game than a good clean strike that sends the ball over the ropes? Perhaps, a fast bowler sending the stump on a cartwheel, or a batsman unexpectedly beaten by the looping flight of a spinner come close.

I will be watching the players I have discussed below purely based on their entertainment quotient and nothing else.

There are many in World cricket at the moment who can hit a ball out of the park. More hours at the gym have made players stronger, better willows and boundary lines that are pushed in all the time to accommodate the sixers are all seen as factors but the men mentioned below bring about a polish to their big hits that make them more exciting to watch than the others.

It would only be fair I start with India. Given his recent form Sourav Ganguly could be one of the players who could provide high quality entertainment with his clean hits. Dhoni and Yuvraj cannot be left behind. Their buccaneering ways needs no second mention and they could well be doing the big hits in the business end.

Dhoni Image Courtesy: www.krishcricket.com

The two veterans from the sub-continent, Inzamam and Jayasuriya make batting look as easy as a stroll in the park and that adds to the allure. Once they find their rhythm they will be deadly in the smaller grounds. Afridi is another swashbuckler who will be hard pressed to contain.

The recent ODI series between New Zealand and Australia saw a lot of big hits and I reckon Fulton will be one player to watch out for the sheer excitement he brings to the crease. And across the Tasman we find Adam Gilchrist who conducts the easiest way to 100 classes. Such is the range of strokes he has in his armoury it needs a Steve Waugh to intervene and advise Gilly to take it a little easy ahead of the World Cup.

Gilchrist can go berserk right from the word go, his philosophy is pretty simple. A ball will be hit if it offers the scope, first or last of the innings does not matter. Not caring for the situation and continuing with his natural flow makes the Aussie veteran a rare treat. Another Aussie who can provide the sparkle could well be their skipper Ricky Ponting, who is savage on the short ball. Hayden too can muscle a few to different pin codes.

And my last pick is the one who feels the manual’s permanent place is the fireplace. Chris Gayle, one leg standing, bring down the blade in one big swoosh can be the biggest draw. The strapping Jamaican is easily the most flamboyant of all openers in the world Cup and four or five good knocks from him and the crowd would have got their money’s worth.

Gayle Image Courtesy: www.krishcricket.कॉम



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Thank you for your comments, all. It was good to see that this list stirred up some debate and discussion of your own, as lists must always do. I see that the English trio has received some mention here, but we can only wait and see. Flintoff is an absolutely dangerous cricket, Anonymous, and with Pietersen and Collingwood, who Aurindam named, forms one of the more challenging middle-orders in cricket. The English bowling remains their problem, however. Aswin, absolutely spot-on – the tournament so far is proving you right, of course. Experience does count in these conditions. It’s difficult for a bastman to go out and slam-bang the opposition – shots need to be picked and chosen with care on slow wickets, and playing shots becomes tough. Experience will count even more in the super eights, where there are no easy games.

17 comments:

Peak Day Blues said...

Kris,

that's an exhaustive list.. but I think you missed one name in the list, that of, Virender Sehwag. Yeah, I do agree that he is out of form now, but it's only a matter of time before Viru strikes back!!

As an Indian fan, I will be praying that he fires in all cylinders right from the word go!

Vijesh said...

Nice one Krish!
Keep writing

Anonymous said...

I think you missed Uthappa. He looks very promising.

Cricket World Cup 2007 said...

Dear Srikanth,

Big fan of yours :)

kalakunga.

http://worldcupinwindies.blogspot.com

Readers can also post here at the above blog.

Biplob Kishore Deb said...

It is a nice article.

You talked about Fulton, Gilchrist, Ganguly and some other. I agree with you. In addition to, I would like to include Kieron Pollard, the hard hitter West Indiean batsman who has not appeared in ODI cricket yet but known as a destroyer of the bowlers. Moreover, Austrlian opener Mathew Hayden can be dangerous in the world cup as he has recently made a huge ton against New Zealand.

Dada (Ganguly) seems to be on fire in this world cup.

Unknown said...

Brendum Mccullum, Jacob Orum, Robin Uthappa,Michael Hussey and Marlon Samuels are the players to watch out in 2007 cricket world cup.

Rajesh Kumar said...

Kris, your blog appears very promising, count me a regular now.

KD said...

Good to see Criketers Blogging as well..
Cheers.

Aurindam said...

how cud u not mention...Paul Collingwood, Michael Hussey and kumara Sangakkara!!
I m sure they will make an impact.

Unknown said...

Kris,

You are probably picking the team of most fearsome bighitters XI on current form. The bowlers would run for cover if such a team was to ever enter a cricket field..

Anonymous said...

Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff? Possibly the biggest hitters of them all!

Aayush Kumar said...

I think Sachin Tendulkar can't be left out from the list. His drives through the off-side are a treat to the eyes. And recently he has also been getting the runs at quite a pace-- almost at run a ball.
I think he'll emerge out to be the Man of the Series this time as well. These fortunes obviously depend upon how far India get into the tournament!

http://crickex.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Great read Krish...very subtle in wit (...muscle a few to different pincodes...lol) and quite cool insight...well its dificult to put all the names in a post...or maybe you are playing it safe with the big names...and not picking a young turk?

Fancy a game...?
http://www.cricketology.com

Aswin Kini said...

Hi Krish, i agree that Hitters will be one of the key factors deciding a teams fortune in this tournament. But all of you forget the fact, that in order to hit the ball, You have to middle it or reach for it first.
On a slow west indian pitch, i don't think that most batsman would like to swing their bat as they do in India, Pak, where the grounds have flat pitches allowing the batsmen to slog mercilessly, or in fact New Zealand, where the grounds are small.
Well,my opinion is that only experienced players like Jayasuriya, Tendulkar, and Lara can hit sixes purely for teh reason that they are class players.
As for Ganguly, Yuvraj, DHoni, and Afridi, it depends on the types of deliveries that they choose to hit.

One thing for sure, don't expect high totals or huge amount of sixes in this World Cup, because I have a feeling that it might provide those matches with low scoring thrillers where totals between 220 to 270 would be more than handfull.

Anonymous said...

I will certainly be missing Sachin Vs bret lee and Sachin Vs Soaib.

Anonymous said...

i m glad u missed sehwag as he is not a consistent player he will prove to be the reason of INDIA not reaching super 8

frozenminds said...

I have seen u play for the country in test and one days now i'm reading your blogs way to go man. i'm your regular from now.