Titans eye T20 supremacy

India, Pakistan and Lanka will look to make most of familiar conditions as mega-event kicks off

From the high of the huge success of the inaugural edition in South Africa in 2007 to the low of lukewarm response to the previous event in the West Indies in 2010, World T20 has witnessed a sort of an upheaval in its brief five-year history.

While the novelty factor of the format ensured a great fan interest for the opening bash, by the time the tournament arrived in the Caribbean -- just a year after the second edition in England in 2009 -- it had lost a great deal of its sheen as evidenced in the poor turnout at stadia even when the host team was in action.

The scheduling of the matches in the morning hours to cater to the profitable sub-continental, particularly Indian, television viewers also meant that much of the working class stayed away from the ground. As the biennial show comes to Asia for the first time, the organisers, however, don’t have to worry about TV timings. The air, as with any cricketing meet in this part of the world, is thick with anticipation and excitement as the T20 extravaganza kicks off on Tuesday with the match between hosts Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Hambantota.

Under known conditions, it’s also an opportunity for the Big Three of the sub-continent to reassert their T20 supremacy. The first two places in the first two World T20s were shared by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a hegemony that was successfully challenged by England and Australia in the West Indies. The tournament also saw England break their major-title duck when they put it across favourites and traditional rivals Australia in the final.

Man of the series Kevin Pietersen was in the forefront of England’s success then but even without the cavalier batsman, Stuart Broad and company look capable of doing an encore. Packed with some of the bigger hitters of the cricket ball and boasting one of the finest pace attacks, the defending champions are one of the favourites to wear the crown for the second time just as India would aspire to. It, however, remains to be seen as to how effective the English pacemen would be on the slow pitches here.

MS Dhoni, the only player across all participating teams to remain the captain since he successfully led India to title in South Africa, will hope to bury the disappointments of the last two campaigns in England and the West Indies. Their inability to handle the short-pitched stuff cruelly exposed on the bouncy tracks of England and to an extent in Barbados, the Indian batsmen won’t be cowed down by the possible barrage of bouncers on the slow surfaces in Lanka this time. If anything, they will relish the sight of faster bowlers who will be easier to score off than the slower bowlers.

The spinners, in fact, will be itching to have a go and there are plenty of them. The unconventional nature of the game has spawned a handful of unorthodox bowlers just the way it has forced batsmen to reinvent their styles and manufacture shots. The likes of Sunil Narine (West Indies) and R Ashwin (India) – incidentally both off-spinners – have come up with knuckle-ball and carom ball while Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, another offie, claims to have discovered a ‘teesra.’ While the nomenclature sounds a bit bizarre, the fact is his straighter ones have been tough to pick.

Narine, especially, could be a major force for the West Indies whose side is teeming with T20 specialists. The Chris Gayles, Kieron Pollards and Dwayne Bravos make Caribbeans more than a force to reckon with in Sri Lanka. The hosts themselves will be formidable under familiar conditions. Having come close to winning the title in England, Sri Lanka will be desperate to go the distance.

Other major contenders – South Africa -- have no major ICC silverware in their cabinet to justify their obvious talent and the Proteas would be banking on their ideal preparation in England. Australia’s story appears similar when it comes to T20. For all their achievements in the 50-over format, Aussies’ performance in the shortest format isn’t flattering, though they have made steady progress. Improving further on their final appearance in the West Indies would be on top of their priority list.