Long list of nominees of ICC Cricket awards

Here is the list of Nominees posted by the ICC. The ICC Cricket Awards will take place in October in Bangalore.

Long-lists of nominees (in alphabetical order; each category will be reduced to a short-list in due course)

Juan Theron in SA T20 squad

The South African cricket Board has named the T20 squad for the Caribbean tournament starting April 30th. Juan Theron is the only new and uncapped player.

Good signs for South Africa is that Graeme Smith who went back home from IPL suffering an injury will be alright and will lead the team in the Cup.

However, Wayne Parnell and Justin Kemp who got themselves injured in the IPL won’t get a chance to play in the T20 World Cup.

In Parnell’s absence, Juan Theron who impressed everyone by leading the bowling attack of KXIP from the front in IPL and won the match for them has been given a place in the squad.

With the presence of Rory Kleinveldt, the all rounder adds depth to both bowling and batting. He was a part of the Under 19 team and is in fine form now.

The Coach of South Africa told:-

I am delighted that we have Graeme Smith back from injury to lead us in this campaign. At the same time it is sad to lose players of the calibre of Wayne Parnell and Justin Kemp.

Rory Kleinveldt will be a good like-for-like replacement for Parnell. He is capable of opening the bowling or operating at first change and he has also been a regular death bowler for the Cobras which is an important area for us. Rory also gives us some good batting options down the order

Rusty Theron has impressed everybody both with his skills and his temperament both in domestic cricket and in the Indian Premier League. He was a key player for the Warriors in doing the domestic limited overs double.

South Africa are placed with India and Afghanisthan in the Cup.

SQUAD:-

Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Kallis, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Juan Theron, Roelof van der Merwe

World Championship of Cricket starts tomorrow!

And we are finally in awaiting for the match to begin. It has been 3 years since both the test teams have met each other. The last one was new to forget as India’s Nawab of Najafgarh went on to score another triple century ,they were rattled for under hundred in one innings and the final match got over in less than 3 days.

So, now whoz in with a chance to win the match. India is surely missing the Wall, his absence will cost a lot. With Dravid missing out, the other six batsmen are:

Sehwag, Gambhir, Vijay, Tendulkar, Badrinath, Laxman.

• The team still contains- top ordered explosive batsmen Sehwag and Gambhir who are in top form.
• Next position No.3, it will lack the experience of Rahul Dravid. So probably, Vijay or Badrinath or even Laxman will play in his absence.
• Tendulkar, no words to explain he is in great form. He should take responsibility for the whole team.
• Meanwhile, Laxman too is in good form just fresh after a injury. Oh! I just got in news that Laxman is not certain for the match but it is not the final decision. Lets see!
• Vijay and Badrinath are the domestic players who play for Tamil Nadu, both have a opportunity in their hands to perform well.

The Indian bowling attack consists of Harbhajan, Zaheer, Ishant, Mishra/Ojha/Tyagi.

• Zaheer and Ishant are the two spearheads for the Indian Attack. They should take early wickets to put the visitors in pressure.
• Harbhajan too, is important and he is the main guy to watch out for because he might make a difference.

• The other one place probably will be filled by a spinner because it is a spinning track or even Dhoni may try something else.

So, Lets watch out who performs well for the Indian team.

Players to watch out for India: Sehwag, Gambhir, Zaheer and Harbhajan. The key roles are given to these 4 experienced players.

While, The Indian batsmen have to face the speeds of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnel who have the capacity to bowl over 150 speeds.

The spinners Johan Botha and Paul Harris would be in need for the Proteas for most of the stages of the match. Their performance in recent times is not upt o the mark.

So, awaiting to see what happens. Till Next time- its Bye.!