Just a few kilometres from the bustling markets in Lambeth, a London suburb where Asians, West Indians and Africans sell bananas, rice, dal curry and spicy chicken, England’s sporting gift to the Commonwealth — cricket — returns with its showpiece event: the World Cup.
The nearby Oval will host the opener featuring England and South Africa on Thursday and over the next 45 days, fans will be glued to contests at venues ranging from Lord’s to Edgbaston.
Cricket’s premier championship surely lacks the universal heft of its counterpart in football, yet, in pockets across the globe where British colonial imprint lingers, the World Cup will prevail over a range of issues, be it Brexit in England or post-election ennui in India.
Gripping format
Having discarded the earlier practice of teams being split into two groups, the World Cup has embraced the round-robin league from where the top four in a field of 10 will battle it out in the final stretch culminating in the summit clash on July 14. It is a gripping format and ensures that whoever wins, can claim that the squad had competed against all teams.
Host England, placed first in the International Cricket Council’s ODI rankings, has often struggled in big tournaments and the World Cup is missing in a cupboard which has its share of Ashes urns. Skipper Eoin Morgan is confident that his fellow-batsmen and pace-ace Jofra Archer could make a difference.
South Africa, meanwhile, needs to shed its defensive reflex when the word ‘choke’ is whispered. Faf du Plessis leads a talented bunch and gets an opportunity to silence the nay-sayers, who recall final over melt-downs and comical run outs from the past. It may not help that Dale Steyn is ruled out for the first match but the Proteas still have adequate fire-power.
Among the rest, defending champion Australia must forget the scalding embers emanating from the ball-tampering crisis that laid low Steve Smith and David Warner, fine players but fragile men. The duo is back and there cannot be a bigger stage for redemption than the World Cup.
If Australia is all about finding its way back, India just has to reinforce its known ODI prowess. Virat Kohli’s men have talent and experience but expectations from the Indian Diaspora can either become an inspiring springboard or a shroud that suffocates the nostrils.
Mercurial teams
Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are all part of an interesting mix. These are mercurial teams that can flourish or implode and make us misty-eyed, especially if you have a soft spot for the men from the Caribbean islands and cannot forget the gun-shot sound from the bat of Vivian Richards.
And finally, you have Afghanistan, which imbibed cricket from refugee camps at Peshawar in neighbouring Pakistan, and has players with their sordid stories of having lost a dear one to the scourge of extremism. The World Cup may be a lodestone for most but for Gulbadin Naib’s men, it’s a balm for wounded souls.
