Who will win it this time around ?

[oitoitoi]

SA are the most complete side, possibly the best fielding unit ever, but India have a tad more batting firepower than them, if Sehwag actually fires no one in the world can match him in this format against international bowlers. Will back India out of pride, but my brain's telling me South Africa. Also Lee and Johnson opening for Austrlalia scares the sh*t out of me, and Symonds could easily save the Aussie top order's blushes.

[pasag]

Starting to jump on the SL bandwagon. They have an awesome bowling line up - they have 12 overs where it'll be virtually impossible to score off if they use Malinga at the death. Basically you get strangled by M&M and then are forced to score off Malinga's toe crushes as you're trying to lift the run rate. If Dilshan can carry over his IPL form and Jayasuriya and co can maintain some consistency, I think they're in with a very good shout.

[pasag]

SA are the most complete side, possibly the best fielding unit ever, but India have a tad more batting firepower than them, if Sehwag actually fires no one in the world can match him in this format against international bowlers. Will back India out of pride, but my brain's telling me South Africa. Also Lee and Johnson opening for Austrlalia scares the sh*t out of me, and Symonds could easily save the Aussie top order's blushes.

Is the SA fielding side even better than the Australian one?

[oitoitoi]

Gibbs, Duminy, DeVilliers, that's probably the best infield ever, they'll probably produce a run out a match which is pretty big. one more of that class and it would be almost unpenetrable. Their bowlers are all decent to good fielders too. Their worst fielder is probably Smith or Kallis, who at least have safe pairs of hands. I'd take the SA fielding unit over the Australian one which while very good doesn't have the brilliance of the Saffer unit.

[pasag]

Gibbs, Duminy, DeVilliers, that's probably the best infield ever, they'll probably produce a run out a match which is pretty big. one more of that class and it would be almost unpenetrable. Their bowlers are all decent to good fielders too. Their worst fielder is probably Smith or Kallis, who at least have safe pairs of hands. I'd take the SA fielding unit over the Australian one which while very good doesn't have the brilliance of the Saffer unit.

I dunno, you have Johnson and Lee which are two of the best bowling fielders in the game then Ponting, Clarke and Symonds which are all great in their own right and Warner has been a very handy addition - probably the best fielder of the IPL. Don't think there's anything in it.

[Uppercut]

Gibbs, Duminy, DeVilliers, that's probably the best infield ever, they'll probably produce a run out a match which is pretty big. one more of that class and it would be almost unpenetrable. Their bowlers are all decent to good fielders too. Their worst fielder is probably Smith or Kallis, who at least have safe pairs of hands. I'd take the SA fielding unit over the Australian one which while very good doesn't have the brilliance of the Saffer unit.

Smith and Kallis aren't especially mobile, but they're still good fielders. In tests I'd have them second and third behind De Villiers because slip catching is the most important area of the field, but in T20 they're not so valuable. Definitely not a liability though.

South Africa's worst fielder with Ntini gone is probably Albie Morkel. None of them miss many catches to my awareness but Albertus has a notoriously weak arm. The likes of Parnell, Abdulla, van der Merve and Morne Morkel i haven't seen enough of to say.

[Scaly piscine]

Starting to jump on the SL bandwagon. They have an awesome bowling line up - they have 12 overs where it'll be virtually impossible to score off if they use Malinga at the death. Basically you get strangled by M&M and then are forced to score off Malinga's toe crushes as you're trying to lift the run rate. If Dilshan can carry over his IPL form and Jayasuriya and co can maintain some consistency, I think they're in with a very good shout.

Yea they comfortably have the best bowling attack, batting and fielding is nothing special though. You would fancy a top opposing side to win if they can manage a moderate total.

[Uppercut]

I dunno, you have Johnson and Lee which are two of the best bowling fielders in the game then Ponting, Clarke and Symonds which are all great in their own right and Warner has been a very handy addition - probably the best fielder of the IPL. Don't think there's anything in it.

The thing is, Ponting and Clarke haven't what they were in the field recently. De Villiers and Duminy are at the level of those guys at their peak (if not even better, de Villiers is as good a fielder as I've seen since Jonty). Herschelle Gibbs has dropped off a little too, mind.

I'm not sure how much value players like Johnson and Lee are. They might keep batsmen down to one rather than two with their strong arm but I'm not sure they'll take a match-changing catch or stunning run-out. Good outfielding is crucial but it's more about being solid under high catches than being athletic.

[ret]

this is how the groups E and F are likely to be in case there are no upsets early on

Grp E - Aus, Eng, Ind and SA

Grp F - BD, NZ, Pak and SL

with the best two teams from each grp going to the semis [if I m not wrong]

[pasag]

I was 100% sure India would win. Thought never came into my head that they wouldn't make the semis. Feel a bit foolish itbt.

[biased indian]

3 out of 4 teams with double digit support have failed to reach even the SF stage

My prediction could still happen