Kallis says T20 effect will be seen in World Cup

NEW DELHI: Both West Indies and South Africa are banking on their Indian Premier League stars, some of them senior players with ample experience of sub-continental conditions, to bail them out in the World Cup. The challenge begins with their first encounter at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Thursday, on a notoriously low, slow pitch which is largely an unknown factor. The Kotla has endured a year-long suspension and is going into this major event without having staged any big games.

South Africa's talismanic Jacques Kallis, returning from a recent rib injury, said he was not overtly concerned about the quality of the surface but added that "it's probably not going to be a 300-350 pitch". He agreed SA's first game, and also the first post-IPL World Cup, could swing the way of players with more T20 and local experience.

"T20 has changed the way players approach both ODIs and Tests. In ODIs now, batsmen take more risks and have developed new strokes. Teams don't panic when the asking rate goes up while bowlers also have developed new skills. T20 has been a revelation for the game," Kallis said.

At the Kotla, the ability of both teams to size up conditions quickly and plan their innings accordingly could prove crucial, making past IPL stints on such pitches an invaluable experience. SA are undoubtedly the better placed here, with as many as 9 players in the squad having played in the IPL, the third-best behind sub-continent teams India (all 15) and Sri Lanka (11).

Skipper Graeme Smith, Johan Botha, AB De Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn and Morne Van Wyk are no strangers to slow conditions, but the Windies aren't far behind with six stars boasting IPL experience. Their most important performers - Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Shiv Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach and Ramnaresh Sarwan - have all had a taste of the sub-continent during past IPL tourneys.

"We have 5-6 players who took part in the IPL or are still associated with it," said Dwayne Bravo, "They know the conditions, so that exposure will come in handy. IPL has helped them to know how to play here."

Of course, WI and SA aren't the only 'outsiders' who are by now well-versed in Indian conditions. The Australian World Cup squad has eight players who have featured in past IPLs, and New Zealand have seven. If Kallis' prognosis pans out, then England, with only 4 IPL players in their squad, have their task cut out. It will be interesting to watch teams adapt.

For Thursday's game, both sides are expecting low scores and spin-friendly conditions at the Kotla, making the middle overs crucial to the outcome of the match.

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Bhajji gives Zaheer a batting lesson

BANGALORE: It was back in 2008 that the approach of the Indian team towards its net sessions underwent a change. Until then, the bowlers in the side, irrespective of their desire to bat, were hardly ever given a go at the nets. When they did get a chance it was always the part-time bowlers, as also some pretenders, whom the bowlers got to bat against.

This was somewhat in tune with the theory practiced by one of Mumbai's famous coaches, Vithal 'Marshall' Patil, under whom a certain Sunil Gavaskar learnt how to deal with away swingers. Patil's theory was that were the bowlers denied all chances to bat in the nets, they would be that much hungrier when they got a chance in a match.

It also had to with there not being enough net bowlers available to Indian teams of the past, more so on tours, a fact explained and rued by none other than Sachin Tendulkar when he was captain.

Somehow, under the then skipper Anil Kumble that part changed. In the camp prior to the 2008 Test series against the Australians it was very noticeable that people like Zaheer Khan, Hrabhajan Singh and Kumble himself were getting long stints with the bat and against the best of bowlers apart from themselves. Soon enough in the opening Test in Bangalore, it was Zaheer and Harbhajan who held on in the Indian second innings and forced a draw, a result the Indians then rode on to eventually win the series.

It was the same pair of Zaheer and Harbhajan who held centrestage at the Indian World Cup team's nets here at the KSCA B ground on Tuesday afternoon. After the customary warm-up game of football, which on the afternoon extended to nearly an hour, the two leading bowlers of the side donned their pads and stuck with them for nearly the whole session.

The reasoning is simple. If the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and so on are expected to be chip in the ball, why not have those with some sort of ability with the bat to do likewise despite their being tagged specialist bowlers. And it is not as if batting is being forced on these guys, one look at the nets and it will be apparent to anyone that the bowlers enjoy whatever time they get with the bat.

On Monday, there was even the somewhat poignant sight of Harbhajan, his pads still on, running up to Zaheer while the latter was up against some throwdowns from coach Gary Kirsten. And normally you would have someone telling the batsmen, especially a tailender, how to keep the short ball out of harm's way. Not so Harbhajan and not with Zaheer. Rather it was a lesson in how to hit such balls, that was handed out, Harbhajan indicating what needed to be done to pull the ball, asking Zaheer to lean forward and pull as against back, which he explained would result in the ball being skied and so best avoided. There was no mention of moving across though, Harbhajan making it clear that 'stand and deliver' was the better option. A bemused Kirtsen, who may have thought that it was best he had decided to quit after the World Cup, simply watched on.

The lesson over, both 'batsmen' continued to take turns hammering the ball all over.

The net session, an optional one, was attended by all but three members of the team, Virender Sehwag, S Sreesanth and R Ashwin, opting to rest. Two other members Sachin Tendulkar and Ashish Nehra too played no part in the outdoor activities, choosing to spend sometime indoors at the National Cricket Academy.

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Besieged Pakistan take fresh guard

HAMBANTOTA: Pakistan coach Waqar Younis believes the recent spot-fixing scandal will not have a detrimental effect on their World Cup campaign which gets underway against Kenya on Wednesday.

Former Test captain Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif were banned on charges of corruption relating to last year's Lord's Test against England.

All three also face criminal prosecution.

But Waqar said his team, who are in action for the first time since the bans were announced, are not worried about the past.

"Whatever happened last year is now history. This is a new place and an important tournament, so we want to be fully focussed and start the event like India and New Zealand did," said Waqar.

Pakistan are also eager to put behind them their tragedy-hit 2007 tournament.

Four years ago, Pakistan suffered an embarrassing three-wicket defeat at the hands of outsiders Ireland in Kingston and crashed out in the first round.

As if the humiliation was not enough, their English coach Bob Woolmer died the very next day, threatening the World Cup and putting the players under investigation by the Jamaican police who initially treated the death as murder.

Even after the death was declared as due to natural causes, Pakistani players came in for severe criticism from home fans who wanted them punished for their first round exit - their second in as many events.

Captain Shahid Afridi said his team will take all opponents here seriously.

"There have been so many upsets in the World Cup in the past, like the one against Ireland four years ago, so we have that in mind and we will be on our toes in every match, be it Kenya or Sri Lanka," Afridi said.

The current Pakistan squad has only four survivors from that Irish defeat -- Younis Khan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal -- but Afridi said no player has forgotten the shattering loss.

Not even Kenya's abject 10-wicket surrender to New Zealand in a Group A match in Chennai on Sunday, makes Afridi feel at ease.

"If they had a bad day then they can come hard on us. We will be geared up as our main aim is to win all our group matches," said Afridi of the first stage where Pakistan also face Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Canada.

The top four teams qualify for the quarterfinals from each of the two groups.

Pakistan opener Ahmed Shahzad and middle-order batsman Misbah-ul-Haq hit centuries in the first warm-up match against Bangladesh last week and senior batsman Younis Khan scored 80 in a lost cause against England.

Younis and Misbah will be the key in providing a solid base for hard-hitters Afridi, Umar Akmal and Abdul Razzaq, who can run riot in the final overs and in the batting powerplay.

Kenya captain Jimmy Kamande vowed to have a different approach against Pakistan, after his team was shot out for a paltry 69 against New Zealand.

"Next game, it'll be different opposition and a different approach from us. I would be happy as long as we improve each and every game," said Kamande, whose team reached the semi-final in the 2003 World Cup.

"We didn't express ourselves (in the first match) but we will show improvements," said Kamande, whose team has never met Pakistan in a World Cup match having been a regular feature in the World Cup since 1996.

Pakistan have won all their five one-day internationals against Kenya.

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