In most things in life, the beginning is vital, and cricket is no exception. Opening the batting is not in everyone's reach of ability. There have been many who have fumbled doing the job. Talented openers are rarer than diamonds. Opening the batting is an art in itself, which involves negotiating with the ferocity of the new ball, coping with its wicked movement off the pitch, and getting scoring some runs, possibly at a good rate, to build a solid opening stand with your partner. This of course is the classical way of looking at the openers and their job. The job of an opener has constantly changed over the years. Opening in test matches and opening in ODIs are two very dissimilar jobs; the only similarity being the rarity of those who can handle either of the (or both the) jobs well.
Although writing about opening in test matches would be absolutely awesome, this is a World Cup 2011 blog, and hence I think I should stay as much in the region as possible.
In the earlier World Cups, Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge established themselves as one of the finest opening pairs of all time. They consistently helped their side - also, one of the greatest sides of all time - to win over their opposition by setting off to a flying start. Although not as sterling as their West Indian counter-part, even the Australians found a reliable pair of openers in David Boon and Geoff Marsh in the Reliance World Cup in '87. Sanath Jaysurya and Romesh Kaluwitharna proved to be the most devastating opening pair of the '96 world cup and massively contributed to Sri Lanka's eventual claim of the title. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly played fine one day cricket together but they never opened a lot together in a world cup. The last pair that must be mentioned in the list is Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, which to me, is one the greatest, if not the greatest, one-day opening pairs of all time.
It is going to be extremely interesting to know the strategy of the openers in this world cup. I assume, unlike '96, mindless slogging is out of fashion now, and at least one of the two openers for most of the teams would want to anchor the innings - which does not necessarily make them play slow. There are some batsmen who can score at fascinating strike-rates without playing a foul shot. Sachin Tendulkar is, of course, one of them and that's why I feel, he - along with a fiery Sehwag - will form the best opening pair of the world cup. Sehwag's merciless assault on the bowlers is going to be as crucial in this partnership as will be Tendulkar's classy stroke-play. Another opening partnership that the bowlers will be willing to spare their best weapon for is the one that Graeme Smith will share with Hashim Amla - who has been in supreme touch over the past 2 years. Shane Watson and Bradd Haddin will have a lot of Australian hopes rested on their shoulders but they - particularly Bradd Haddin - do not seem to belong to the same league as their Indian and South African counter-parts. England might be a surprise package as their aggressive leader in Andrew Strauss and a fine young talent in Alistar Cook build a few solid opening stands. Tilakaratne Dilshan has always looked virtually talentless to me but has still managed to score a few quick runs for his team with mindless handling of the bat. I think as in the last 4 world cups, Sri Lanka, would opt to slog in the first power play and Dilshan, if lucky as always, with Upul Tharanga may offer something to what I imagine to be a poor and hungry Lankan scoreboard in most matches. Pakistan is in such tatters right now that I am just not sure who is going to open for them, and I tend to think that even they aren't. I doubt if they have any known players apart from Shahid Afridi - who although learned nothing spectacular with either the bat or the ball and acquired zero cricketing wisdom in his career - seems to have the ability to remain a teenager all his life. Unfortunately for him, this ability does not extend to being able to be a 17 year old Sachin Tendulkar and forces him to be himself, which indicates no potential harm from him to the opposition.
The minnows might surprise us with a couple of sparkling performers. After all it's a world cup and everyone wants to prove himself. It is the biggest stage where the drama of cricket unfolds which I, in my own humble way, am trying to analyse and write about from a quiet place at a quiet hour in a crowded city where the 2011 World Cup is scheduled to be awarded to the best of the fighters.
Although writing about opening in test matches would be absolutely awesome, this is a World Cup 2011 blog, and hence I think I should stay as much in the region as possible.
In the earlier World Cups, Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge established themselves as one of the finest opening pairs of all time. They consistently helped their side - also, one of the greatest sides of all time - to win over their opposition by setting off to a flying start. Although not as sterling as their West Indian counter-part, even the Australians found a reliable pair of openers in David Boon and Geoff Marsh in the Reliance World Cup in '87. Sanath Jaysurya and Romesh Kaluwitharna proved to be the most devastating opening pair of the '96 world cup and massively contributed to Sri Lanka's eventual claim of the title. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly played fine one day cricket together but they never opened a lot together in a world cup. The last pair that must be mentioned in the list is Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, which to me, is one the greatest, if not the greatest, one-day opening pairs of all time.
It is going to be extremely interesting to know the strategy of the openers in this world cup. I assume, unlike '96, mindless slogging is out of fashion now, and at least one of the two openers for most of the teams would want to anchor the innings - which does not necessarily make them play slow. There are some batsmen who can score at fascinating strike-rates without playing a foul shot. Sachin Tendulkar is, of course, one of them and that's why I feel, he - along with a fiery Sehwag - will form the best opening pair of the world cup. Sehwag's merciless assault on the bowlers is going to be as crucial in this partnership as will be Tendulkar's classy stroke-play. Another opening partnership that the bowlers will be willing to spare their best weapon for is the one that Graeme Smith will share with Hashim Amla - who has been in supreme touch over the past 2 years. Shane Watson and Bradd Haddin will have a lot of Australian hopes rested on their shoulders but they - particularly Bradd Haddin - do not seem to belong to the same league as their Indian and South African counter-parts. England might be a surprise package as their aggressive leader in Andrew Strauss and a fine young talent in Alistar Cook build a few solid opening stands. Tilakaratne Dilshan has always looked virtually talentless to me but has still managed to score a few quick runs for his team with mindless handling of the bat. I think as in the last 4 world cups, Sri Lanka, would opt to slog in the first power play and Dilshan, if lucky as always, with Upul Tharanga may offer something to what I imagine to be a poor and hungry Lankan scoreboard in most matches. Pakistan is in such tatters right now that I am just not sure who is going to open for them, and I tend to think that even they aren't. I doubt if they have any known players apart from Shahid Afridi - who although learned nothing spectacular with either the bat or the ball and acquired zero cricketing wisdom in his career - seems to have the ability to remain a teenager all his life. Unfortunately for him, this ability does not extend to being able to be a 17 year old Sachin Tendulkar and forces him to be himself, which indicates no potential harm from him to the opposition.
The minnows might surprise us with a couple of sparkling performers. After all it's a world cup and everyone wants to prove himself. It is the biggest stage where the drama of cricket unfolds which I, in my own humble way, am trying to analyse and write about from a quiet place at a quiet hour in a crowded city where the 2011 World Cup is scheduled to be awarded to the best of the fighters.
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