Can Australia make it this time as well?

Doubts have always been raised regarding Australia's chances of miking it big in the upcoming world cup held in the sub-continent since the retirement of the bunch of 8-9 players after the 2007 triumph in the Caribbean and loss of form and fitness of most of the remaining players like Brett Lee, Michael Hussey etc to name a few. In case Australia manage to repeat the feat not only will they be doing it for the 5^th time in the history of the world cup but will also do it for the fourth time in a row. No team has even managed even three in a row.

And, not only that. Ricky Ponting will be the 1^st captain in the history of a world cup to have lifted the world cup thrice and that too consecutively. If the chances of Australia repeating the feat yet again this time in the sub-continent are considered, it would be worth to mention that Australia will be heading for the big stage without the likes of Glenn McGrath for the first time since 1996, without Symonds, Gilchrist, Hayden, Brad Hogg etc for the first time since 2003. With all thse factors, though Australia's chances of winning the world cup cannot be ruled out, their magical days are definitely lost.

Since the start of the 2003 world cup in South Africa, Australia have not lost even a single ODI be it against any opposition and under any circumstances. Australia won the match against England in the league stages of the world cup in 2003 after at one stage being 135/8 and against New Zealand after being at 84/7. Thanks to Michael Beaven's patient knock in both the games. Beaven was deceived from the man of the match award in both the games. In 2007, there were no close calls for Australia against any team, which makes them go unbeaten for 22 consecutive matches.

Australia didn't face India or Pakistan in that edition and even if they did, the result would not have been any different. With the absence of the match winners, it is not possible for Australia to win all the matches they play. And, if bad luck shifts from RSA to Australia, may be they might lose in the quarter finals itself.Though there is no McGrath or Gilchrist this time, there are likes of Shane Watson, Ponting, Haddin, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait to name a few. A hint regarding Australia's fate is evident from the face that they have not been able to defend the Ashes after the retirement of these players in 2006.

Neither have they been able to win a test series match against India since then.

Unbelievable!

Well once again, you readers might go misled by the title which might make you think that the post is written regarding India's comeback in yesterday's match against South Africa after at one stage of the game reeling at 119 runs on the board losing 8 wickets leaving the tail enders a rather impossible job to accomplish. But, my post is regarding the man of the match award going in favor of Hashim Amla and the man of the series award favoring Morne Morkel, both of which were not justified. Of course, it was Amla who did a fab job for his team which emerged victorious.

My man of the match would have been none other than Yousuf Pathan who not only took the match from nowhere towards the target but was also speed in doing so. People might have come across batsmen who would have seen their team victorious after seeming to be impossible at one stage, losing quick wickets in important stages of the match and with limited overs to play. But, the pace at which they would have scored the winning runs would be nowhere close to what Yousuf Pathan was seen doing yesterday. Of course, Zaheer Khan gave him a good support from the other end.

I can recall the semi finals of the world cup in between Australia and West Indies in 1996 and against South Africa in 1999, both matches which Michael Beaven set right for his team. But, the rate at which Beaven scored his runs was very careful unlike a 68 ball hundred by Yousuf Pathan yesterday. Another match that I would like to cite here is the one between India and Australia at Hyderabad played in October 2009 where Sachin Tendulkar scored 175 runs while chasing a target of 350 and eventually falling short by 3 runs. In that match though India lost, Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the man of the match.

And coming to the man of the series award, Morne Morkel stood no chance with the likes of Hashim Amla, Yousuf Pathan being right there. Morkel was not even the highest wicket taker in the series but rather comes in the 2^nd place with 12 scalps after Tsotsobe who had 13 of them against his name. Likewise, Hashim Amla topped the charts for the highest run getter in the series amassing 250 runs from the five games he played. Also, Duminy was a contender with 244 runs from 5 matches. But, Morkel stood nowhere for the award with Yousuf Pathan also well in the race.

Some Lessons To Learn From The Aussies..

Hmm..in the recently concluded commonwealth bank series,Australia had no other option than to lose to India.The debacle was almost expected,as Australians had an ego of suspending players irrespective of their talent and contribution to the team.Some players that come to my mind are..Michael Beaven,Jason Gillespie,Andy Bichel,Bradd Williams and much more..

All Australia did was to maintain the winning combination for reasons god knows.For the instance,Jason Gillespie last played for Australia in the match against Bangladesh,where he surprised everyone by scoring a double hundred inspite of being a nightwatchman.But,the outcome was that he was totally ignored by the selectors for any future tours by Australia.

Then we have Michael Beaven-whose batting average has been one of the best in the world.The man was found to contribute for Australia in crucial situations ,for instance in the world cup semis in 1996 against West Indies and in 1999 against South Africa.In 2003 world cup,it was only the effort of Michael Beaven due to which Australia broke the previous West Indies' record of winning 13 consecutive ODIs.Australia were reeling at 135/8 against England while chasing a target of 205.Then in the super six match against New Zealand,it was Michael Beaven who rescued Australia from 84/7 to 208/9.But,the last this man was found representing for the Australian team was way back in 2004 against Sri Lanka.

In the recently concluded commonwealth Bank Series,there was a need of a Beaven like batsmen during their chase of 259 in the second finals.A Bichael like bowler to support Brett Lee would have been more effective compared to Mitchel Jhonson, James Hopes and Stuart Clarke.

It is now left to the other teams to learn from the Aussie mistakes as well in addition to some from their world dominance.