Predict the T20 2009 WC Champion

[Brady]

I will take England!

 

[coolz_hari]

India
if openers can fire then more chances for india

 

[sifter132]

no vote yet for Australia.....looks weird

Allow me to stick my vote in the ring - and not out of the need to give the Aussies a sympathy vote - I can see them winning this tournament.

ZOMG - why not India?? Well India are the defending champs, have a lot of experience and have a powerful batting team. But I think the bowling lineup is fairly weak compared to the other teams. I think the Indian pacemen will need friendly conditions to succeed as guys like RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer and Praveen all need the ball moving to trouble batsmen. And even if the ball is moving, I'm not sure there is a proven consistent T20 legend in that group. Yes they perform here and there but too inconsistently, and maybe only RP Singh could be called a consistently good T20 bowler.

Australia does not have some super awesome bowling lineup by comparison, but I think I trust Mitch Johnson, Bracken, Hilfenhaus and Lee to get the job done more than the Indian quartet I mentioned before. Spin could be the difference between them as Harbhajan is quite an economical bowler and Hauritz for Australia probably can't match him in that area, but Hauritz is no mug and he's been a shorter form specialist for NSW for the last few years now, so he has the mindset to restrict runs.

Don't get me wrong, India are still one of the favourites for sure. But I'm just saying I don't think their bowling is that great. I'd much rather the Pakistan or Sri Lanka attack for example.


OK so I've raised my (pretty much only) doubt about India, but why Australia to win then? Well I think Australia has batting just as talented as India's Symonds and Warner are proven demolition men - Symonds in particular has probably the best T20 record of any player. Watson and Dave Hussey are experienced, successful T20 players too. Ponting and Mike Hussey haven't dominated in T20 like other forms, but I wouldn't be dismissing their talent just yet either. All in all, Australia could put quite a formidable top 6 onto the park.

I think Australia's only negatives are experience and recent form. The experience weakness is a little overstated. After all, the Indians and South Africans are probably the most experienced squads, but they really haven't played a LOT more T20s than the Aussie guys. Everyone is still relatively inexperienced in this format.

And non-participation in the IPL has been a criticism for Australia too, to hone form and gain experience. But guys like Symonds and D.Hussey are there and using the IPL to discover touch and confidence. As well as Brett Lee who is looking to regain rhythm. But I think it was more important for some of the major players to rest and hopefully I'm proven right when Ponting, M.Hussey, Haddin, Mitch Johnson etc comeback to international cricket refreshed after their long summer in Aus and SA.

Of course, we'll see how it plays out, but I believe the Aussies have WAY too much quality and hunger in their squad to be written off so easily.


And my dark horse for the tournament: England.

 

[Sartaj]

this is not an intelligent thing to do mate.but just for the heck of it,i'll go with India simply because i can't find a reason why they shouldn't win.
i also like SA and AUS's chances.
england is too inconsitent a team to even support.
NZ too can win if the big guns fire and no one gets injured.

 

[coolz_hari]

Allow me to stick my vote in the ring - and not out of the need to give the Aussies a sympathy vote - I can see them winning this tournament.

ZOMG - why not India?? Well India are the defending champs, have a lot of experience and have a powerful batting team. But I think the bowling lineup is fairly weak compared to the other teams. I think the Indian pacemen will need friendly conditions to succeed as guys like RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer and Praveen all need the ball moving to trouble batsmen. And even if the ball is moving, I'm not sure there is a proven consistent T20 legend in that group. Yes they perform here and there but too inconsistently, and maybe only RP Singh could be called a consistently good T20 bowler.

Australia does not have some super awesome bowling lineup by comparison, but I think I trust Mitch Johnson, Bracken, Hilfenhaus and Lee to get the job done more than the Indian quartet I mentioned before. Spin could be the difference between them as Harbhajan is quite an economical bowler and Hauritz for Australia probably can't match him in that area, but Hauritz is no mug and he's been a shorter form specialist for NSW for the last few years now, so he has the mindset to restrict runs.

Don't get me wrong, India are still one of the favourites for sure. But I'm just saying I don't think their bowling is that great. I'd much rather the Pakistan or Sri Lanka attack for example.


OK so I've raised my (pretty much only) doubt about India, but why Australia to win then? Well I think Australia has batting just as talented as India's Symonds and Warner are proven demolition men - Symonds in particular has probably the best T20 record of any player. Watson and Dave Hussey are experienced, successful T20 players too. Ponting and Mike Hussey haven't dominated in T20 like other forms, but I wouldn't be dismissing their talent just yet either. All in all, Australia could put quite a formidable top 6 onto the park.

I think Australia's only negatives are experience and recent form. The experience weakness is a little overstated. After all, the Indians and South Africans are probably the most experienced squads, but they really haven't played a LOT more T20s than the Aussie guys. Everyone is still relatively inexperienced in this format.

And non-participation in the IPL has been a criticism for Australia too, to hone form and gain experience. But guys like Symonds and D.Hussey are there and using the IPL to discover touch and confidence. As well as Brett Lee who is looking to regain rhythm. But I think it was more important for some of the major players to rest and hopefully I'm proven right when Ponting, M.Hussey, Haddin, Mitch Johnson etc comeback to international cricket refreshed after their long summer in Aus and SA.

Of course, we'll see how it plays out, but I believe the Aussies have WAY too much quality and hunger in their squad to be written off so easily.


And my dark horse for the tournament: England.

well said. I am very sure that 1 asian team & 1 non-asian team will go to finals

 

[chaitanyaraghav]

My vote goes to india.Looking at the lineup and form that the players are in now i cant think of anyother team better!

I would have chosen australia but lack of gilchrist, hayden and warne pulled me back! Imagine gilchrist and hayden opening in T20 WC with the form they are in!

 

[KBC]

Bring back Haydos, Gilly, Warney, Glenn 'Pigeon', then i'll wish to back Australia.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

for me the worry india have is looking at the IPL the bowling line-up looks like it should consist of Nehra, I Pathan, RP Singh, (both of whom have been dropped recently) with Ojha as the spinner.

Z.Khan hasn't opted out of this format, I.Sharma is the spearhead, even Patel who's the number 3 choice is in contention with a good IPL season and then you have harbhajan who is pretty much a staple of the t20 side.

there's a lot of options, going with "the specialists" didn't work for england in 07, yet dropping the big names very much worked for india.

their bowling line-up looks quite tricky to pick imo.

in their favour though is in Y Pathan and now, by the looks of thing Rohit Sharma they've got those quality batsmen that can stifle a game with their bowling.

 

[Chetan0304]

All of you will be wrong

PAKISTAN Is going to win this time :banana2

Was nice competition last time but really this is the time we'll show we can finish it off.
Got Players for each role...just hold back n watch :hpraise

Yeah in two matches played Vs India, Pakistan team lost both that too the last ball faced by Misbah : yeah Pak will win


back on topic INDIA or South Africa.

 

[piriyanth]

Either SA or NZ

 

[Howsie]

Can New Zealand bring Bond over to England now, if so that would make our team so much better. Even though I'm already tipping us to win it. :cool:

 

[z33]

z33 added 2 Minutes and 9 Seconds later...

All of you will be wrong

PAKISTAN Is going to win this time :banana2

Was nice competition last time but really this is the time we'll show we can finish it off.
Got Players for each role...just hold back n watch :hpraise

Yeah in two matches played Vs India, Pakistan team lost both that too the last ball faced by Misbah : yeah Pak will win


back on topic INDIA or South Africa.

HAHA lol....India ? lol Southafrica lol ?:banana2

It was PAKISTAN's time mate....be happy winning warm ups lol

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Yeah in two matches played Vs India, Pakistan team lost both that too the last ball faced by Misbah : yeah Pak will win


back on topic INDIA or South Africa.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

wait















Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

 

[Will_NA]

I think England will win it.

 

[King Pietersen]

Nah, you don't know what you're talking about mate, England are out. I reckon India have this one wrapped up.