This World T20 is made up of two stages, the first beginning
on the 16th. Here are the eight sides taking part, what I make of
them, and which two will go through to join the big boys.
Group A – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Nepal
Afghanistan
Who are they?
The feel good story of cricket, even if it has been told
several times before every game they played. Formed just prior to the invasion
and overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan have flown up the world
rankings, and along with Ireland, regularly form the top two in all Associate
cricket.
Are they any good?
They are pretty handy. Now fully involved in the Asia Cup
cricket, they beat Bangladesh in the group stage. India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
all beat them comfortably, but there is the feeling that they belong if not at
the top table, then they should at least be able to join the others for a meal.
It would help if they could play matches in their own country, but should that
be fixed or the ICC is happy with their current arrangement with the UAE, then
Test status may not be far away.
Who is their star man?
They are in possession of some pretty decent cricketers –
captain Mohammed Nabi, wicket-keeper batter Mohammed Shahzad (he has his own
version of the helicopter shot), and hugely improved all-rounder Samiullah
Shenwari. But their star man is Hamid
Hassan, the bandana wearing fast bowler. Whilst the previous three
cricketers are all good players, other sides in this stage know they have
players to match them. But Hassan is quick, having been clocked at around and
above 90mph, and when fit, often takes bundles of wickets, including in his
brief forays against Test sides. When fit though is a big caveat, as Hassan
seems to almost constantly be breaking down injured – it goes without saying
that Afghanistan need him fit for the huge game with Bangladesh.
Bangladesh
Who are they?
Bangladesh must look at Afghanistan and say to themselves
that once upon a time, the rest of the cricket world used to talk about them
like that. Given Test status in 2000, Bangladesh have spent most of the next 14
years travelling the world playing in two match series that the host nation
doesn’t want to play, and then wins 2-0. The last six months have been
particularly bracing, as after 12 months of promising results, they were
utterly obliterated by Sri Lanka, and lost all four games, at home, in the Asia
cup.
Are they any good?
At the minute, no. These are worrying times for Bangladesh
cricket, as India, England and Australia’s coup of cricket has left them
hanging onto their Test status, with the word “relegation” banded around.
Ireland keep winning everything at Associate level, Afghanistan keep improving,
and Bangladesh keep losing. They could really do with a good tournament, or the
defeat to Afghanistan in the Asia Cup will soon be seen as a symbolic moment.
Who is their star man?
When not getting banned for making dodgy hand gestures on
TV, Shakib Al Hasan is still the
best cricketer Bangladesh have by some distance. He’s a good all-rounder, but
it’s about time his runs and wickets meant Bangladesh won a few games. If I was
being a bit more original, I might have suggested Mominul Haque, a fluent left
hander who has made a very promising start to his international career.
Hong Kong
Who are they?
Well, no-one really knows. The qualifier produced six teams,
the established forces of Ireland and Afghanistan, old perennials the
Netherlands, exciting new boys Nepal and hosts for that tournament and
seemingly every cricket tournament, the UAE. Hong Kong snuck in there as well
somewhat unnoticed. The game has always had a history in Hong Kong, but their
qualification was somewhat unexpected.
Are they any good?
Well, they’ve had a good run recently, qualifying for this
tournament by beating Papua New Guinea, and nearly qualifying for the 2015 ODI
World Cup, with the consolation of ODI status for the first time until 2018.
Their qualification for this tournament was based on the beating of every side
they should have done (every other qualifier for this tournament that played
them beat them), but they got some decent results in the ODI qualifier, beating
eventual winners Scotland, the only team to do so.
Who is their star man?
Haseeb Amjad, the
former Pakistan U19 cricketer (thanks Cricinfo), took 33 wickets across the two
qualifiers, and would appear to be their main bowling threat, armed with reverse swing. Another Pakistan
born player, Irfan Ahmed, leads their batting with power but not it seems
consistency.
Nepal
Who are they?
The new Afghanistan, truth be told. I got on the Nepal
bandwagon early, bizarrely through a US based news sites photos of the week,
which showed Nepal playing the US in front of 15,000 people in Nepal. That isn’t
a freak attendance, Nepal get 15,000 fans for every home game. Remember that
next time you watch New Zealand play at home. They’ve risen the ranks of the
Associate teams, and in the UAE in the T20 qualifier, they beat Hong Kong on
the final ball to qualify, in front of 2,000 ex-pats who’d moved to the UAE for
work, who promptly went absolutely mad. It cannot be over stated what a
fantastic achievement a nation that is mainly mountain achieving well in a
sport that requires a huge expanse of flat land, nor the love the Nepalese have
quickly grown for cricket.
Are they any good?
Without wanting to patronise Nepal, I am going to have to.
Qualifying was a massive, joyous surprise, and has probably come too early in
their development for them to consider beating Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Having qualified for this tournament, they spent most of the ODI qualifier
getting absolutely hammered by the teams they beat in t20. If they beat Hong
Kong, the tournament is a success.
Who is their star man?
Captain Paras Khadka
is the focal point for the side, and has been extremely vocal in the media
about Nepal cricket before the tournament. Khadka is hugely popular back home,
but a year ago Shakti Gauchan was good enough to get a trial for the IPL, and
in the qualifier Sharad Vesawkar proved an excellent finisher – it was he who
hit the winning runs against Hong Kong.
Group B – Ireland, Netherlands, UAE and Zimbabwe
Ireland
Who are they?
The 9th best cricket side in the world at t20,
and if they got to play the better teams more often, they might well be higher
than that.
Are they any good?
They are very handy, and in terms of Associate cricket,
extremely. They won all three major tournaments for the Associates in the three
different formats in 2013, and their best player will likely end up captaining
England in this tournament. Bangladesh are very keen not to play Ireland in any
format and with good reason – Ireland would beat them.
Who is their star man?
I’m going for broke here and saying that for this
tournament, Paul Stirling will fire
and not fail as he did in the West Indies. A somewhat portly figure that would
not sit well with the England establishment, Stirling hits big opening the
batting. What will be really handy for Ireland is that he bowls decent off-spin
as well, and Ireland may use him as an opening bowler. But they have a lot of
good cricketers – George Dockrell is a very tidy left arm spinner, Kevin O’Brien
humiliated England in the last World Cup and William Porterfield is one of the
better captains in the tournament.
Netherlands
Who are they?
The Netherlands always seem to have been near the top of the
Associate tree without ever making the leap forward into either Test status or
a conclusive argument for it. They’ve always benefited from a close
relationship with South Africa that now seems to have dried up, and Ireland and
Afghanistan have overtaken them. On the current trend others may too.
Are they any good?
Whilst they qualified for the tournament, they didn’t do so
with the ease they would have done previously. Defeat in the quarter-finals
left them needing to beat Scotland in a playoff to qualify, which they did. At
the ODI World Cup qualifier they didn’t even make the final stage. Losing Ryan
ten Doeschate and Troy Cooper have been big blows.
Who is their star man?
The two quick bowlers who got them here are Ahsan Malik and
Mudassar Bukhari, but they may struggle to transfer their success to Bangladesh
pitches. Wesley Barresi is their
wicket-keeper, but was also their highest run scorer at both tournaments. For
the Netherlands to have any hope they need to post runs and he is their most
consistent run scorer.
UAE
Who are they?
Until a while ago a very second rate cricket team whose main
role was to host Associate tournaments, Pakistan tours, and bring together
Indian and Pakistani cricketers to play together. The only major tournament
they had previously qualified for was the 1996 World Cup, a side which
contained only one home born player, the extremely wealthy Sultan Zarawani, who
was made captain, and in their first game of the tournament decided to face
Allan Donald without a helmet with predictable results. Not that it has much to
do with the current UAE side, but I never fail to smile when I read that story.
Are they any good?
Things are looking pretty rosy in the land of the UAE. They
get a regular dose of international cricket to keep their native players
interested as Pakistan play their home matches there, nearly all Associate
tournaments are played there as a result of money the facilities on
offer, and they have qualified for both this tournament and the ODI World Cup
next year.
Who is their star man?
The UAE were solid rather than spectacular in qualification
for this tournament (they were spectacular in the ODI World Cup qualifier), but
captain Khurram Khan easily out
scored all of his teammates in both tournaments, and chipped in with wickets as
well. At 42, this and the ODI World Cup will be his only chances at
international recognition, so he’d better make the most of it.
Zimbabwe
Who are they?
Well, a Test playing nation apparently, quite often a vote
for the BCCI in any dispute, and involved in a quite incredible farce over pay
with their players and loans with the ICC. None of the Test playing nations
want to play them because it’s a pain for Zimbabwe to play anyone given they
have very little money, and none of the Associates see anything to be gained
from touring.
Are they any good?
Bizarrely, they are quite probably better than Bangladesh.
Despite all of the off-field problems, when Zimbabwe manage to get eleven
players on the field in the vain hope they may be paid, they can give the Test
teams a good match. Zimbabwe seems to be a case of natural talent squandered by
a corrupt, incompetent system. They will not be particularly happy to have had
Ireland drawn in their group, with only one going through.
Who is their star man?
Well, it would be pace bowler Kyle Jarvis, but he sadly is
good enough to be paid for playing cricket, and has an English passport, so he
retired from international cricket at the age of 24 and will be playing for
Lancashire for this year and one would expect many years in the future. Their
best player without him is Brendan
Taylor, their captain. For most sides being captain has the management of tactics
and personnel to be worried about, but Taylor has the added pressure of a
vastly reduced coaching staff and being the chief negotiator with the board
over pay. It’s no wondering his stats for ODI and t20s are fairly unimpressive
over the past two years. I could make a cheap gag about off-spinner Prosper
Utseya prospering in Bangladesh, whilst Elton Chigumbura is a poster boy for
unharnessed Zimbabwean talent.
What’s going to happen?
Group A - The tournament opens with the two big games,
Bangladesh v Afghanistan and Nepal v Hong Kong. The other four games should be
foregone conclusions, given that these are the two smallest teams in the
tournament playing against two established sides in home conditions. I want
Nepal to beat Hong Kong, but they have to go into that game second favourite.
Bangladesh and Afghanistan is a huge game given the context – if Hamid plays,
and if Afghanistan bat first, I’m backing them to set a decent score and
Bangladesh to crumble under the pressure.
1 – Afghanistan 2 – Bangladesh 3 – Hong Kong 4 – Nepal
Group B – Similar to the other group, the big games are the
first two. Ireland are better prepared than Zimbabwe, and should beat them. The
UAE should fancy their chances of beating the Netherlands in these conditions,
and another upset is not beyond them, but with only one going through Ireland
should prove too much.
1 – Ireland 2 – Zimbabwe 3 – UAE 4 - Netherlands
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