World Cup Teams: Perennial favourites South Africa, troubled West Indies and hopeful Afghanistan

This time we look at another set of teams that are as different as snowflakes – yet two of them will be ruled out of contention only by a rookie gambler. History, they say is a bad motorist, it doesn’t signal intent to turn – but it is a brilliant croupier, it deals the next hand without any prejudice from the previous. Two of the teams we are profiling here are serious contenders and the third is taking giant strides albeit on smaller paths. One team has been on a downward spiral since being undisputed rulers, another is the perennial bridesmaid of the world cups – one is on a path to resurrection but has some of its own decorate the paths with thorns, the other is fighting demons, mostly which are their own creations. The third team, is a toddler learning to walk with the big boys and like all minnows, they would want to thrive and announce themselves given the platform. 

Asphyxiators - South Africa
“Under the bludgeonings of chance; my head is bloody, but unbowed”, these lines from Invictus well and truly sum up our first team in focus. Their nickname is not to be said out loud, the perennial under-achievers, the heartbreak of every World Cup since ’92 – the Proteas not too long ago were the number one team across formats. Their captain is currently one of the best players in the world and then they have a monk in Amla – who has surged ahead of that man Kohli in being the fastest to five thousand ODI runs. South-Africa must be hoping against hope that the thing called law of averages might catch up – but that is as far as they would go to seek luck. A most pragmatic team, they would do well to acknowledge the pressure and anxiety that rides with them this time around. Apart from the ’98 Champions Trophy they have nothing to show for in the trophy cabinet. 

The squad is well balanced as it stands and positive news on de Kock’s fitness will bolster it further. Eight of their players have prior world cup experience, a luxury considering the setting of teams this time. Their batting does seem to lack a bit of depth after Du Plesis but with any one of these three coming good, if fringe benefits kick in who is to say they can’t put up decent totals. If that is taken care of, the heavy artillery of Steyn, Morkel and Tahir is sure to choke most batting teams on their average day. South-Africa haven’t been the best travellers Down Under, but then, no one has been. South-Africa have always had the right players to win any tournament, but they haven’t found a way to win it. The squad will garner much exposure before the eventual World Cup as they have a lot of limited overs cricket lined up. 

What every opposing fan dreads, is that it will be against their team that South-Africa will manage to exorcise the demons and shred the tag; why could this time be different – because something has been overlooked – by analysts and South-Africa themselves – a mental conditioning coach! A tincture of time is what is sometimes most effective against anxiety. This might be the blessing in disguise that will account for the law of averages, because no one will be sad to see Dale Steyn with the trophy.

Squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn

Colour, Music and Gaylenam style - West Indies
Fire in Babylon should have been a bigger commercial success than it was – but it is the story of their lives – literally and figuratively – the West Indian team should not be in the state that they frequently find themselves in. They are a most beautiful side, for generations, which always plays the game in its true spirit. More often than not they are fighting against invisible and unexpected enemies whilst contesting against their designated opponents. 

They are the reigning T20 champions and are carrying decent form. The nonchalance and audacity of Gayle and the sheer pleasure in a Sammy smile are what has been giving fans all over the world happiness and reassurance that the game always wins. Darren Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Samuels make up a robust batting core and the bowling looks very good too. 

To address the missing elephant in the room – the exclusion of Dwayne Bravo, who was in the ICC ODI team last season and Pollard who any side would consider an asset, is baffling and indefensible. The reasoning is that they are ramping up for the next World Cup – and therein lies the metastatic tumour of the West-Indies board. Chris Gayle was very vocal about the ridiculousness of the decision, which makes it even more worrisome. The team is now going to Australia with a lot of mixed emotions. 

Don’t let that fool you oh neutral fan – West-Indies can do with sheer talent and heart what no one thinks they can with form and practicality! It will be very rewarding for world cricket if West-Indies do go all the way, it will be very sad if they don’t manage to make it to the last eight. We the fans should be prepared for disappointment of them not winning the cup but there are a couple of Gangnam-style moves around from m/s Gayle and company which should be enough to drown that. 

Squad: Jason Holder (captain), Marlon Samuels, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor

Afghanistan
Afghanistan are the Jammu Kashmir – Ranji trophy story of world cricket. The ‘associates’ pool has been very active and interesting in the recent past. They are all on par with each other and not too far from the low ranked full members. Afghanistan have had a nice tour Down Under but also have had a reality check handed to them by UAE. That country needs something to be a binder to their sagging threads of peace and harmony and cricket is sure to bring that about. 

Nowroz Mangal, Javed Ahmadi and Usman Ghani are well settled in their roles and have decent numbers going to Australia. A fit Hamid Hasan will do well to spearhead the attack which without him had the firepower in their win over Bangladesh in the Asia Cup. 

Squad: Mohammad Nabi (capt), Javed Ahmadi, Aftab Alam, Mirwais Ashraf, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Usman Ghani, Hamid Hassan, Nasir Jamal, Nawroz Mangal, Gulbadin Naib, Hasmatullah Shaidi, Samiullah Shenwari, Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Afsar Zazai (wk)

Owing to recent results all over, it seems that no one is a clear favourite – the field is as levelled as it could get. Yes there is bound to be the added advantage of home grounds but, more than a few stray upsets are in the offing and neutral fans are relishing the prospects of this World Cup.

Next up: Bangladesh, England and UAE