Melbourne: After a fortnight of hard fought contests, four teams — New Zealand, England, Pakistan and India — have qualified for the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s World Twenty20. The Super 12 stage was marked by a handful of upset wins. Zimbabwe defeated Pakistan by one run and The Netherlands downed South Africa by 13 runs.
Thanks to the remarkable win by the soccer crazy European country, South Africa was eliminated from the tournament. New Zealand which lost to Australia in the last year’s final in Dubai gets another chance to have a shot at the title.
The elimination of Australia from the tournament (it had an inferior net run rate to New Zealand and England ) is a big disappointment to the local fans, but they hardly showed any enthusiasm in the run up to the semi-finals.
The Asian diaspora, especially the Pakistan supporters, would be delighted that the Babar Azam led green brigade is in the semi-finals. The match between the Kiwis and Pakistan will be interesting because the Asian team will flaunt its fast bowling strength. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Mohammed Wasim form a terrific combination.
India was a clear cut Group 2 leader and on Sunday Head Coach Rahul Dravid said it is nice to be in the knock- out. It’s a challenging format and a challenging tournament, he said.
Meanwhile the former Australian captain Ricky Ponting said: ” we are a few days away from the final at a packed MCG – and I can’t wait to see it. I was lucky enough to play in a few of these matches and there is no denying they are among the most special of my career and for those 22 lucky players, it will be the same.:
” Every big game I went in to, especially when I was captain of Australia, I told the boys to embrace the moment for what it is. Don’t let it run away from you, don’t treat it like any other game, because it is not. The more you can express to yourself and to others that this is a bigger game, then you are not trying to hide anything and the better you will play.
Furthermore Ponting said : The MCG is my favourite cricket ground in the world bar none. It is one of the great sport venues anywhere in the world. We have the Boxing Day Test and I have so many great memories of walking out here in front of close to 100,000 people. When the national anthem comes on, the hair on the back of your neck stands up. You think you are invincible and nothing can stop you.
Moments like that can overwhelm a player but, in truth, as much as you try and keep a lid on it, when you turn up, there are always nerves and adrenaline. However, the more exposure you have to those games, the better you are able to deal with it. I was lucky enough to be in that situation a few times and a couple as captain.”
“Honestly, who knows who is going to be playing in Melbourne. When I have looked around the stadiums here and seen the crowds that have turned up and the cricket that has been played, it has been a great tournament. There have been some upsets along the way, which has added a lot to it and the India v Pakistan game was an awesome spectacle. I am sure by the time we get to the final, it will be something special.”
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