Twenty 20 Blog

When Zimbabwe upset the world cup champions Australia in the previous edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the celebrations were impromptu, almost akin to the side having won a world cup themselves. This time around Zimbabwe will not participate in the ICC World Twenty20, due to political reasons or otherwise – and I shall touch upon them in brief later – but that has meant that another associate nation, Scotland, join Ireland and Netherland as the three qualifiers for the tournament.

Minnow History

If one looks at the history of all the world cups that have been held, and I talk about the longer format of the game here, there have been enough instances that have seen a minnow-nation – in the context of that tournament – take out a giant killer; Sri Lanka had beaten India in 1979, India themselves went on to stun West Indies twice in 1983, in 1996, the Kenyans shocked an already disjointed West Indian side, while they went on to get to the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup as well. And the last tournament has already witnessed the sad story of India and Pakistan crashing out after going down to Bangladesh and Ireland respectively.

The reason why I dug those historical examples out is that I certainly believe that if games of the longer duration can be won by the gross underdogs, then the aforementioned likes of Ireland, Netherland and Scotland could very well go into the tournament with reasonable confidence.

And it will not be unfair to add a Bangladesh to that list, because despite having qualified for the super-eights of the previous edition, and having shocked both India and Pakistan in the world cup of the fifty over format, Bangladesh has had its own problems of late. Their performance graph has shown an exponential deceleration, and the exodus of the players into the rebel-Indian Cricket League has ensured that their recovery will be as quick as George Bush’s purported ability to think.

ICC’s plan move towards fruition

What has also changed over the last few years has been ICC’s committed effort to help these countries gain more exposure at the international level by affording them the ODI status, something that is given out to the top six of the Division One qualifiers. This has had its obvious desired stimulus on the development of the game into these previously unheard of countries when cricket was used in the same line as them.

The qualifiers for this year’s ICC World Twenty20 had seen the top two countries, Ireland and Netherland, get an opportunity to get to tournament; joining the ten full members to make the 12.

However, with Great Britain refusing entry to Zimbabwe due to reasons that can best be described by a political expert, there was place for one other qualifier, and it was taken up by Scotland. The Scots had finished third in this very qualifying tournament, that also consisted of Kenya, Bermuda and Canada.

Minnow outlook in ICC World Twenty20 2009

Looking at the groups, the defending champions India, are in the same group as Bangladesh and Ireland, and while it is difficult to see them lose, they would do well to not forget the drubbing they had received at the hands of the Bangladeshis in 2007. The more interesting would obviously be the Ireland-Bangladesh one; on one hand Bangladesh would want to get back to their winning habits, while on the other, Ireland looks to be the most improved side of the lot after having also won the first division of the World Cricket League and qualifying for the 2011 World Cup.

Netherlands’ chances will depend majorly on the performance of the teams in their group, England and Pakistan, both teams with a penchant to sometimes self-destruct; Pakistan more than England!

The replacement for Zimbabwe – Scotland – find themselves in group D, where they will meet New Zealand and South Africa and it is a trifle difficult to see them upset any apple-carts here. The Kiwis are just coming off a 2-0 whitewash of India at home – and the conditions in England may not be too different to that New Zealand find back home – where as South Africa is one of the strongest contenders for the crown this time.

All in all, the one game amongst these minnows that could thrill is the Bangladesh-Ireland encounter, and the winner should get to the second round!

By Suneer Chowdhary - Twenty20Blog.co.uk