ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2014 in Bangladesh The upcoming ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh from March 16th – April 6th, 2014 will be an opportunity to the qualified 6 non-test playing nations – Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and United Arab Emirates to showcase their prowess at the highest level, though they will compete first along with the 9th/10th Test ranking nations – Bangladesh and Zimbabwe before they get the chance to lock horns with other established 8 Test playing nations. The Group Stage is segregated into 2 groups - Group A = Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Nepal Group B = Zimbabwe, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Netherlands . Only the Group toppers from them Group Stage will qualify to the next round Super 10 . Again the Super 10 has 2 groups = Group 1 - South Africa, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand & Group B winners Group 2 - Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Group A Winners Witnessing the emergence and strength of non-test playing nations, it wont be surprise if they make it to the Super 10 at the expense of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe from the Group A & Group respectively. According to me, in the Group A, there should not be any problem for Bangladesh to top the group albeit Afghanistan may pose a tough challenge but in Group B, Zimbabwe will have a tough time to top the group as Ireland, UAE and Netherlands are not just pushovers. Zimbabwes recent performances in the international scene havent been a great one. Hence, I wont be surprised if any of non-test playing nations make it to the Super 10 stage from the Group B. As for Nepal, though qualified for this ICC Twenty20 World based on their stupendous performance in the ICC Twenty20 Qualifier in UAE last year, their campaign in New Zealand for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers was a big disaster where they stood 9th position. Except 1 game, they lost all the games including the preceding practice games. Now in ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2014, Nepals first game against Hong Kong (March 16, 2014) would be a good opportunity to avenge their defeat suffered at the ICC World Cup Qualifiers. The 2nd game against Bangladesh (March 18, 2014) would be a daunting and challenging one for Nepal; this will be a real test of character for Nepali players. The last league game against Afghanistan (March 20th, 2014) should be a keen tussle between 2 sides to showcase their one-upmanship albeit Afghanistan are the favourites having seen them the manner in which they played at the recently concluded Asia Cup 2014. To sum it up, although it looks a herculean task for Nepal to qualify to Super 10 stage, wins against Hong Kong and Afghanistan and good show against the hosts Bangladesh should open new vistas for Nepal. In this shortest format of Twenty20 games, it has become very hard to make forecasts and there are always some surprises in the store for the viewers and spectators… One more thing, we Nepalese will be very excited and our long cherished dream of seeing our Nepali Cricket Team playing in a world cup cricket marquee will be finally realized and more importantly our national song Sayyon Thunga Phool Ka Humi, Eautai Mala Nepali will reverberate the cricket stadium and millions will listen to the tuneful Nepali national song on live Television…… Sanjeev Lama Hyolmo Freelance Cricket Commentator/MC
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 05:54:26 +0000
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