Fight to play with big boys

Sri Lanka and West Indies are likely to qualify for Super 12, who will be the other two teams?

Before the big boys start their quest to become the T20 World Champion, the newbies will lock horns to make their place in the Super 12.

The qualifier round will kick off on October 16, while the main round will begin on October 22.

Eight teams, divided into two groups, will compete for four spots in the main round. Two top teams from each group will take on the leading teams in the T20I format.

Group A comprises Namibia, Netherlands, former World T20 Champions Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates, while Group B consist of Ireland, Scotland, two-time World Champions West Indies and Zimbabwe.

The top team of Group A and the second team from Group B will be placed in Group 1 of the main round, while the winning team of Group B and the second-placed team of Group A will play against Group 2 sides.

Group A

All the teams in Group A are competitive. The one favourite team to make it to the Super 12 is Sri Lanka, who just won Asia Cup, beating teams like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

After so long, Sri Lanka are looking like a unit to fear. They are a bunch of young men, who seem to be on a mission to earn their lost glory back.

In terms of batting, they have youngsters like Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka who looks very promising.

Meanwhile, they have experienced campaigners in the ranks like Kusal Mendis, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka who are extremely capable in this format of the game.

In bowling, they have the services of the talented left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka and right-arm fast bowler Chamika Karunaratne. Their real strength lies in the spin department, where they have one of the best spinners in the world Wanindu Hasarang and mysterious Maheesh Theekshana.

All in all, this side looks capable of not only advancing to the next stage but also challenging the big teams in the main tournament.

There are no clear favourites among the three other teams to qualify for the next stage. Netherlands, Namibia and UAE, all are equipped enough to do it.

However, if we have to pick one, it will probably be the Netherlands.

First of all, UAE are a pretty decent unit, but the playing conditions in Australia will be too alien for them. They are not used to these fast and bouncy tracks with big boundaries.

Moreover, they will be playing without their star player Rohan Mustafa and the team will be led by CP Rizwan, which will further test the side.

The third team of the group, Namibia are going in with a tried and tested squad. They are heavily banking on experienced campaigners like David Wiese, JJ Smitt, Stephen Baard, Jan Frylinck and others.

Namibia look like a real threat to the Dutchmen, but the Men-in-Orange seem to have a slight edge over the Southwest African nation.

The Dutch team have played a fair bit of 50-over cricket against the ICC Full Members. Though they did not manage to win any of the 15 games in 2022, they put on a decent display, especially against Pakistan, which must have boosted their confidence.

The Netherlands had a forgettable outing in T20 World Cup, getting knocked out after losing to Namibia.

In the last 12 months, the Dutch have prepared well for the global event and they can be serious candidates to qualify for the main stage.

Having players like experienced all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe, stylish batters Max O’Dowd and Vikram Singh, Tom Cooper, talented youngster Bas de Leede and captain Scott Edwards surely make them a unit to watch out for.

Group B

Group B is even tougher. Similar to Group A, there are one favourites, the two-time World Champions West Indies are likely to make it into the final round.

In fact, they have a pretty decent team to even qualify for the last four if they manage to play up to their potential.

There is absolutely no argument that if there is a team with five to six pure match-winners, it has to be the Windies.

Starting from their captain, Nicholas Pooran, who is immensely explosive and at the same time pleasing to the eye.

Then they have opening batters Evin Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell and Odean Smith who can single-handedly win their team matches.

Moreover, they have a decent bowling attack as well, led by the experienced Jason Holder. Alzarri Joseph is an underrated performer and World Cup can be the event he needed to emerge as a real force to be reckoned with.

Obed McCoy is another clever customer, who is accurate and bowls brilliant slow deliveries. When it comes to spin, they have Akeal Hussain, who is intelligent with his limited weaponry.

There is stiff competition among the other three teams, Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe.

Scotland made it into the main round of the tournament last year in the UAE. However, it will be challenging for them to repeat the feat.

The Scottish side will be heavily relying on their captain Richard Berrington and George Munsey to score a major chunk of their runs at the top of the order, which can cause them trouble. In bowling, they will be looking towards Safyan Sharif, Hamza Tahir and Mark Watt.

This Scottish side, on paper, look a tad weaker as compared to the one they fielded in the 2021 edition of the event.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe have also been quite impressive in recent times. They defeated Australia in an ODI, which must have lifted their morale.

In T20Is, they played 16 games in 2022, where they stood victorious on nine occasions and lost seven. More importantly, two of those nine wins came against Bangladesh.

The problem with Zimbabwe is that their experienced all-rounder Sikander Raza has been shouldering the majority of the weight in the batting department. If he fails, the whole team seem to just bog down before the opposition.

Looking from a distance, Ireland look like the side that will book a berth in the next round.

They have been a decent performer in ICC events. The last time they missed out on the qualification and it is very unlikely to happen again.

They have some pretty experienced players in the shape of captain Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling and George Dockrell, having played 89, 115 and 105, respectively. Stirling is an explosive batter, averaging 28.67 with a strike rate of 134.84.

On the other hand, they have immensely talented players like Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Simi Singh and Josh Little.

Ireland is pretty much capable of beating not only Scotland and Zimbabwe but also knocking down the Windies and it will not be called an upset.

In short, the four teams that are likely to qualify for the Super 12 are Sri Lanka, Netherlands, West Indies and Ireland.