Analysing World Cup teams: Dark horses New Zealand, Sri Lanka and sprightly Ireland

The big one is upon us – it seems the images of Wankhede were being broadcast just yesterday, but maybe that is owing to a bias. In a month’s time the cricketing world will gather for its quadrennial carnival – the biggest stage for the willow-wielders, fielders and the delivery men – where batons are received, torchbearers are born and swansongs are sung. 

World Cups are a good measure of eras – a decent player plays 2 to 3, a very good one plays 4, exceptional ones play 6 – a lot has changed since 2011 – not that this is the first time, and not owing only to the big retirement, but in terms of the game itself. We now play in a world where there are just 4 fielders outside the ring, that is an enormous challenge on subcontinent pitches and grounds; in Australia the paucity will reflect even more owing to larger grounds. Batsmen though shouldn’t take too much heart only from this possibility – the porous outfield will be hard to cash upon unless one has a good back-foot game and a lot of time. We are upon a World Cup down under after 23 years and very few players in the foray have played an ODI in Australia in the recent past – playing conditions are always a huge consideration, but it just feels this time the playing field is more levelled. These teams that we have featured below, as part one of a series, are peculiar and one of them is a former world champion.

The Black Capped pure whites: New Zealand 
The quintessential island nation, doing well to sneak up from the shadows of the big brother, New Zealand are the romantic story of World Cups – from Wright, Cairns and Fleming to now McCullum. They are not the ‘also-ran’ but the ‘just-missed’ story of World Cup. No one would give them a realistic chance even this time around, but with Dan the Man who would not want to? Throw in Ross Taylor, Boult, Southee, Williamson and Anderson and of course the new Big Mac, NZ do look like a genuine threat to the favourites (whoever they are). It is a nicely balanced side with players from the top drawer in international cricket presently – who don’t get spoken of too much. The core of the team is possibly playing their last world cup and they would want to make an indelible impression. Factor in the home ground advantage which is substantial if you put value to the on record comments of the most celebrated ODI cricketer – who in his own admission accepted that his most difficult time were in New Zealand.

Southee and Boult are by no means lesser bowlers in their backyard and Vettori even if low on match practice or fitness is heaps of talent, which makes the trio a formidable combination for any batting line up. It shouldn’t come as a surprise if the Black Caps manage to feature even in the semi-final line-up. It would be hugely surprising and equally sad if they don’t manage to make it to the last eight.

Squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson, Tim Southee, Luke Ronchi (wk), Ross Taylor

The Sinha-unleash: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has been giving World Cricket lessons in ‘batsmen hunting in pairs’ paradigm – the one thing un-lion like that they do. From Aravinda-Arjuna to Jaya-Kalu and now Mahela-Sanga. The team, recently, has faced a lot of challenges in personnel, but the core remains relevant. The Mahela – Sangakarra pair scripted a perfect farewell at the T20 WC and considering, like with NZ, four top players are playing their last world cup, nothing short of the title will be the ideal swansong. The thing with perfect scripts is, that they are written by Unicorns. Sri Lanka have had a roller coaster recent past. 

A decent test performance coupled with an erratic ODI performance – in subcontinent and away. A young captain who has the experience of Dilshan, Sangakkara and Jayawardene at his disposal should ideally walk through to the last eight – yet – the performance depends hugely on the fitness of Linga the Slinga. The bowling just does not seem to have the bite without him. Kulasekara and the rest are more than a decent bunch but to do what it takes consistently over 7 matches would be difficult. Without Ajantha Mendis, Herath is the key, and how effective whilst being economical he turns out on Australian soil, will make or break their chances. 
Sri Lanka are where India were in 2011, with batsmen dyed purple and bowlers who know what it takes. What they lack is a captain who performs at par if not better than the best – but that is being very unkind on Mathews – rather than fresh ideas he would do well to stress on implementation. Sri Lanka have not been decent travellers down under when it comes to ODIs and like it is with teams from the subcontinent – an un-acclimatised batting will make Stuart Binny seem like Shane Watson. 

Squad: Angelo Mathews (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-capt), Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga (subject to fitness), Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayake

Of hoedowns and heart: Ireland
 “…for all their wars are merry, and songs are sad” someone has said about the Irish – but even those sad songs are merrily written, spontaneously sung and without a garb of production value – for the Irish are more about expression than they are about tact and performance – this and that overt sense of tragedy. The second most beautiful story of the last world cup was that of the Irish. The Irish are used to getting their hearts broken, but last time around they broke a few hearts – by not going further. Oh what a spirited bunch they were – all heart. 

Porterfield, Joyce and the O’Brien brothers are their fulcrum, yes Sorensen will be missed but the new lot are gathering reputation like their beer. The Irish have been knocking on the doors intermittently but the knocks have been loud enough – now only if the knocks can get frequent enough. Ireland would be targeting to better their show this time around and no reason they shouldn’t be able to. They are the best of the ‘Associates’ – on par if not better than the lowest ranked full members. 

Squad: William Porterfield (capt), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew McBrine, John Mooney, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien (wk), Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson (wk), Craig Young

Islandic nations have been living in shadows of their continental neighbours since time immemorial, and not just in the Sporting realms. There are benefits of being close to the source of activity but also banes of talent drain. Smaller nations push the regression line upwards when given a global stage – they have a sense of purpose toward coming out of the shadows and prove that they can take the scorching. The chances of the title might be bleak but it for sure will be a delightful ride till it lasts; and the title if it does come their way will not break any cricket fan hearts. 

Next up: West Indies, South Africa, Afghanistan