Who Will Win T20 Cricket World Cup 2014?

Fifth edition of T20 cricket or 20-20 cricket world cup is starting from 21st march 2014 in Bangladesh. T20 World Cup is most sought after in T20 cricket as it is where the teams have a chance to prove their dominance in the newest format of the cricket. T20 cricket came into the international arena in 2005 and first T20 world cup was organized in 2007 at South Africa. Since its inception the following of T20 cricket is growing very rapidly and it is organized after the gap of 2 years by International Cricket Council (ICC). Last edition of T20  world cup was organized in Sri Lanka which was won by West Indies defeating the host Sri Lanka in final.

T20 World Cup 2014 Bangladesh (Photo Credit : www.india.com)

T20 world cup 2014 is $3 million prize money cricketing bonanza. T20 world cup will see the competition from 10 cricket teams for this prestigious title. Top 8 ranked cricket teams India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa and England got direct entry into the main stage while 8 other teams like host Bangladesh, Nepal, Ireland, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, UAE, Netherlands and Zimbabwe will fight in qualifiers for remaining 2 spots. Winning team of T20 world cup will pocket the amount of $1,100,000 along with the prestigious World Cup trophy. 

West Indies World T20 2012 Winner (Photo Credit : www.telegraph.co.uk)

World T20 main league matches will start with the match between arch rivals India and Pakistan on 21st March 2014 at Mirpur. The final of this tournament will be also played at Mirpur on 6th April 2014. The earlier edition of T20 world cup has been won by India in 2007, Pakistan in 2009, England in 2010 and West Indies in 2012. 

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T20 world cup is organized in Bangladesh so the teams from subcontinents will get some advantage as the conditions are very familiar to them in comparison of the teams like Australia, South Africa etc. The slow pitches in Bangladesh is going to help the team with good spin bowlers.

NEW ZEALAND

Black Caps under the skipper Brendon McCullum are the dark horse in World T20. They have great set of players for T20 format like Taylor, Williamson, Guptill , Corey Anderson and B McCullum while they have Kyle Mills, Mitchell McClenaghan, N McCullum, Trent Boult and Tim Southee. They have many fast bowling all rounders in Corey Anderson, Collin Munro, Jimmy Neesham. Corey Anderson fastest ODI century scorer is a player to watch from New Zealand.

SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka has been in the Bangladesh for last two months first playing bilateral series against Bangladesh, then in Asia Cup. So, Sri Lanka are well adapted to the condition of Bangladesh and also they have very well balanced team under the captaincy of young Chandimal. Players like Sangakkara, Dilshan, Jayawardene in batting along with Lasith Malinga, Mendis, Senanayke in bowling   and T Parera and A Mathews as all rounder makes them World T20 title favorite.

PAKISTAN

Pakistan have a young team building under the skipper Md. Hafeez. Bowling is major strength of Pakistan while batting plays a supportive role. They have good bowlers in Umar Gul, Junaid, Saeed Ajmal and Tanweer while Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, A Sehzad and Shoaib Malik are their best batsman. Shahid Afridi gives this team agility with his bowling and explosive batting.

WEST INDIES

Defending champions will defend their title under the dynamic skipper Darren Sammy. They have great T20 squad with batsman like Chris Gayle, Samuels, Smith and Johnson Charles while in bowling they have Rampal, Sunil Narnie and K Santokie. All-rounders like Dwayne Bravo, Sammy and Andre Russel make this team to watch out in T20 world cup. Sunil Narnie is watch out player in the helping conditions of Bangladesh.

INDIA

Indian team under skipper MS Dhoni have very good T20 batting line up with names like Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli. Opening batting and fast bowling are the major concern for team India in this format. Ravindera Jadeja and R Ashwin are key player for India in T20 world cup as they provide all round option for Indian team. India under the captaincy of Dhoni have given exceptional performances when they are least expected to perform good. Amit Mishra can be the trump card for skipper Dhoni in Bangladesh.

AUSTRALIA

Australia have explosive batting line up which is ideal for the T20 format under the skipper George Bailey. Australia have strong batting line up with players like David Warner, Watson, Maxwell, Bailey, Finch and White while in bowling they have Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Bollinger and Coutler Nile. Dan Christian and Faulkner provides them great all round options. Most dominant cricket team in history is yet to win World T20 trophy.

SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa under Faf du Plesis  have well balance team in batting and fast bowling but they are lagging in spin department. In batting they have Amla, AB Devilliers, Duminy, Miller and Plesis while in bowling they have Steyn, Totsobe, Morne Morkel and Parnell. They are excellent fielding side and they are going to try hard get their hand on T20 World Cup. Performance of spinners Imran Tahir and Aaron Phansigo will be crucial for the success of South Africa in Bangladesh.

ENGLAND

The 2010 winner have not performed according to their strengths in the subcontinent conditions. Under the captain Stuart Broad England have too many players which will play for the first time in subcontinents. They can't be right off directly as the young players are eager to prove their mettle at international level. They have batsman like Bell, Jose Butler, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright while in bowling they have Dernbach, Broad, Tredwell and Jordon. They have good T20 all rounders in Tim Bresnan, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes and Alex Hales.

BANGLADESH

The host are playing under the young skipper Mushfiqur Rahim. Bangladesh have good team combination suited for the conditions in Bangladesh. They have players like Shakib Al Hassan, Mahmaduallah, Abdur Razzak, Tamim Iqbal and young Mominul Haque which are eager to make an impact in an ICC event.

NETHERLANDS

Netherlands made a record by chasing a target of 190 runs in just 13.5 overs at the average of 13.5 to qualify against the Ireland. They have some good players with good experience who constantly play in Australian Big Bash and English county. Players like Peter Borren, Wesley Barresi, Tom Cooper and Ahsan Malik can be the match winners for them. They can definitely play the role of spoilsport for some team in their group. 

FAVORITES TO WIN T20 WORLD CUP 2014

In all these 10 teams Australia, West Indies, Pakistan and India are the favorites to win this edition of World T20. I put my money on West Indies and India to win it. West Indies have the team that is ideal for T20 format with players like Chris Gayle, Sunil Narnie and Dwayne Bravo while India, well whenever Indian captain MS Dhoni has been counted out he comes up with something really special.

                So, my bet is on West Indies and India, what about yours ? Who is your favorite for World T20 trophy 2014 ?

Djokovick Defeats Federer to Win Indian Wells Open 2014

Former world number 1 Novak Djokovick defeated highest grand slam winner Roger Federer in the hard fought finals of Indian Wells also known as BNP Paribas Open. Indian Wells is a ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament with the prize money of $5,240,015  organized at  Indian Wells, USA. Indian Wells saw the participation from the tennis stalwarts like world number 1 Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del-Porto, Richard Gasquet, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych, JW Tsonga in the list of 96 players. Out of these 96 players Novak Djokovick and Roger Federer cemented their place in the finals.

Federer and Djokovick with Indian Wells Trophies (Photo: thehindu.com)

World number 2 tennis star Djokovick defeated local star John Isner in the semi-finals to secure his place in the finals. Djokovick won his match by 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 breaking the hearts of local supporters. While in other semi-final Federer defeated Alexedra Dolgopolov in straight sets by 6-3, 6-1. Dolgopolov made huge upset in his way to the semi-final by defeating Rafael Nadal in 3rd round match.

Federer and Djokovick had faced each other 32 times before this out which 17 matches were won by the Swiss legend Federer while 15 were won by Djokovick. Still Novak Djokovick started as the favorite because of his form and the dominance he has displayed over other players in last couple of years. Before coming into the finals of Indian wells 2014 Federer has won this title 4 times while Djokovick won it 2 times.

Federer started the finals in excellent way and took 3-0 lead over the Djokovick. Federer wasted no time and won the first set by 6-3 in just 31 minutes. Second set was complete opposite of the first set and Djokovick won it by 6-3 make the match 1-1. Djokovick continued his rhythm from second set and took the lead of 5-4 in the tight 3rd set. Federer saved his serve and also broke the Serb to take lead for the first time in 3rd set with 6-5. Djokovick broke the serve of Federer and won the tie-breaker by 7-3. Djokovik won the set by 7-6 and also the match with scoreline of 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 to win Indian Wells for 3rd time.

"I am just very happy and thrilled to be able to win the first title in this season" - Djokovick  

Roger Federer despite loosing the final against Novak Djokovick looked fairly satisfied with his performance in the Indian Wells.  

"It was overall a good performance" - Federer

Indian Wells 2014 his 42nd career title for the Serbian and his 16th win over the Federer in 33 matches. Djokovick has now won 17 Masters 1000 tournaments in his career and he is jointly at 3rd position with Andre Agassi behind of Federer who won 21 and Rafael Nadal who has won record 26. Winning Indian Wells Djokovick pocketed $1,000,000 along with 1000 points while Federer despite losing the final pocketed $500,000 along with 500 points.