So. Many. World. Cup. Previews.
2 October 2023
You get a preview! And you get a preview! Everybody gets a preview!
Okay, so, understandably everyone previewed the teams for the World Cup over the weekend. I’ve chosen the ones from ESPNcricinfo for three reasons; it’s a standardised format, the quality is reliable, and they’re easy to skim. Also, they’re not clearly mentioned as previews on ESPNcricinfo, so hopefully this is an easier directory.
India: Sidharth Monga covers the heavily favoured hosts and their right-hand heavy batting order.
Australia: Andrew McGlashan writes about the confident (as usual) Aussies, and their spin-light bowling attack.
England: Matt Roller looks at whether the defending champions can have one last tilt at the title before their core ages out.
Pakistan: Danyal Rasool discusses the Falcons’ chances after a torrid month where they lost their No.1 status and, more importantly, lost Naseem Shah to injury.
New Zealand: Alagappan Muthu wonders if the Kiwis’ golden generation can finally come good at the last time of asking.
South Africa: Firdose Moonda rates the Proteas’ chances after Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala were ruled out by injury.
Sri Lanka: Andrew Fidel Fernando declares this to be a make-or-break tournament for captain Dasun Shanaka, who is just in miserable form at the moment.
[Small break here, but how awesome are Sri Lankan and South African names?!]
Bangladesh: Mohammad Isam asks if the Tigers can overcome their fraught off-field issues to live up to their potential.
Afghanistan: Hemant Brar says Afghanistan’s slim chances at upsetting the apple cart rely on their one elite advantage of spin bowling. (I couldn’t find a team nickname?)
The Netherlands: Firdose Moonda (pulling double duty here) questions if the Dutch can match their obvious desire with some actual match-winning consistency.
Annnnddd breathe. That’s a lot of previews. I’ve put them in order of who I consider to be favourites. Let me know if you agree in the comments!
Hearing from some World Cup cricketers
Now that we’ve got the rank-and-file previews out of the way, let’s take a look at some interesting interviews that shed light on the differentiated problems for each team.
The BBC’s Ayaz Memon talks to Ravi Shastri about whether India can shed their decade-long tag as “chokers.”
The Guardian’s Ali Martin talks to World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan about his former side’s unprecedented depth, and whether that will be enough for another win.
ESPNcricinfo’s Matt Roller talks to Kiwi batsman Daryl Mitchell about his incredible rise since missing the 2019 World Cup, and his importance to the New Zealand team.
Wisden’s Phil Walker talks to Dutchman Bas De Leede about his country’s surprising ambition to reach the semifinals.
Cricbuzz’s Atif Azam talks to Bangladesh’s great batting hope, Najmul Hossain, about how he has worked on his game to take on elite bowlers at the World Cup.
Has streaming made match-day fans irrelevant?
In possibly the best article of the day (and that’s saying a lot today!), The Guardian’s Rahul Bhattacharya looks at how the hardcore, match-going fans have become a distant priority for the BCCI as media rights earnings have become so huge.
As if to drive home the point, the Delhi High Court is making last minute pronouncements to protect Disney Hotstar’s streaming rights against piracy.
Meanwhile, an uncredited Dawn report reveals that the PCB has been forced to urge the ICC to help Pakistani fans and journalists get visas for the World Cup. Cricbuzz’s Aayush Puthran has a great article on the value of the India-Pakistan fandom relationship should you be wondering why Pakistani visas are an important issue.
Tidbits from across the cricketing world
Cricket.com’s Anirudh Kasargod has a fantastic (and short!) statistical analysis of every venue at the World Cup. Honestly, an article worth bookmarking for the next month.
Sportstar’s Amol Karhadkar details how warm up matches have become irrelevant in light of increased pre-tournament fixtures and domestic cricket.
Reddit user u/greycell2011 put together a fantastic set of potential records that Indian players could break during the World Cup. I’m thinking of making this a bingo card for me and some friends. Let me know if you’re interested and I can make it a publicly available image/PDF for anyone to download and use with their friends!
World Cup season is the best time of year to launch a new cricket book, and CricBuzz has excerpts from a couple of interesting ones. Paddy Upton, India’s mental conditioning coach, talks about Dhoni’s behind-the-scenes leadership in 2011 in The Barefoot Coach. Meanwhile, The Great Indian Circus by Joy Bhattacharjya & Abhishek Mukherjee seems to deal more in irreverent and fun stories around cricket.
In some non-World Cup news, the Royal Challengers Bangalore are continuing to re-invent their backroom staff during the IPL off-season. After bringing in Andy Flower as the men’s coach, their latest moves include appointing the ECB’s Mo Bobat as the Director of Cricket, and Luke Williams as the women’s coach. Williams was previously very successful as head coach of the WBBL’s Adelaide Strikers.
Neil Manthorp has a fascinating article in his substack, Manners-on-Cricket, about the cricketers who’ve become disillusioned with the politics and bureaucracy of the sport, starting with one Quinton De Kock.
The BBC’s Evie Ashton takes a look at the struggles of U-19 star Charis Pavely for ADHD Awareness Month, and how her domestic side, the Central Sparks, helped her get diagnosed and treated.
An uncredited Al-Jazeera article asks for five rules to be overturned, from the over-powered free hit to the outdated reliance on an umpire’s call.
An uncredited Economic Times article reports that Times Internet has picked up the rights to broadcast the Indian team’s bilateral series in America. It will be available on Willow TV, a 2016 acquisition, and is the company’s latest move to emphasise cricket in America, after a couple of their execs picked up stakes in Major League Cricket, and the decision to increase CricBuzz’s focus on US cricket.
Speaking of Willow TV, Reddit user u/vijayXD has put together a useful list of all the World Cup broadcasters and streaming sites in every region of the world, should you find yourself travelling during the next month.
Watch & Listen
Even disregarding the multitude of podcast and video previews (and there were a lot!), this weekend has seen a lot of outlets really up their game with the World Cup around the corner.
ESPNcricinfo start us off with an incredible documentary on Haris Rauf’s journey, uploaded for free on their YouTube channel. This is usually the kind of quality reserved for a TV special, or behind a paywall on an OTT platform. [27:08]
Sportstar has their own mini-documentary on the career of Ravindra Jadeja through the eyes of his Jamnager-based, ex-policeman youth coach, Mahendra Singh Chauhan. Not as well produced at the Haris Rauf piece, but a fun little story nonetheless. [7:27]
Ravichandran Ashwin & Harsha Bhogle continue their series on India’s history at the World Cups for the former’s YouTube channel. The latest episode sees them discuss how Sachin Tendulkar was the one constant during a turbulent 1990s. [29:56]
Finally, Jarrod Kimber has a great statistical analysis of the best spinners at the World Cup for his YouTube channel, which is especially informative when paired with the earlier article on venue analysis. [9:16]
Editor’s Note
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