Sub-continent get the World Cup in 2011, Aus-NZ in 2015, Eng 2019
No I'm not posing as Nostradamus, nor am I busting some secret tournament fixing by ICC. That is not a take on possible World Cup winning teams from the future. It's just the distribution of future Cup hosting rights as announced by the ICC today.
Hold on mates - look who all are missing out on a home World Cup! Bad luck Punter, Straussie and Fleming but you do not get to play a World Cup at home.
Oh! What about Jammy? Rahul Dravid made his ODI debut in the Singer Cup Tourney at Singapore in India's first match following that Eden 1996 semi-final defeat to Sri Lanka. After his 1st two matches I faintly recall a friend getting amused at this new player who "keeps batting rock solid before getting out for these 3's and 4's".
It's been 10 years of 'wall'ing since narrowly missing out on a home World Cup. So what are his chances of featuring in the 2011 World Cup as a player?
If you ask me the chances are bleak, real bleak.....
In case he does not qualify in the national side in 2011, Dravid will forever rue his first ball duck to a snorter from his regional mate Srinath in a Challenger trophy match preceding the 1996 world cup, the first such tournament to be held in India for picking the national squad from 40 odd probables.
Mohammad Yousuf is a potential partner-in-grief to Rahul closer home. Not even Dravid, however, beats Marvan Atapattu at narrowness of the miss. Marvan was part of the 1996 World Cup winning Sri Lankan squad but failed to get a single game during his team's unbeaten run in the tournament. Now he's 35 and stands to qualify amongst those who never played home World Cups.
On the other end of the spectrum is Brian Charles Lara. He is 36 and long retired from ODI's; yet he may just come back from ODI retirement early next year and try one final time to sign off his dazzling career in a blaze of home glory.
[Addendum: Posted the above piece, went back to the TV and came to know that Lara has already come back....]
Comments
Since when have the subcontinental nations ever been happy to comply with the ICC? Playing whoever they want to play, whenever they want (eg India's tour of Bangladesh, which was played one year late to accomodate something else), griping about the Champion's Trophy, and ALWAYS the ruckus over broadcasting rights. And now they've arbitrarily decided they've got the divine right to host every third world cup. It almost makes you feel that Aus-NZ hosting 2015 is just the ICC throwing us a bone.
(As I'm Australian myself, clearly I'm not really objective here, but still...)
Posted by: marcus at May 1, 2006 12:02 AM
rahul dravid will captain india in the wc 2011. if rahul dravid wants too, there will be no other reasons.
he will not rue if he is not there, that will mean he didnt want to captain any more and had retired from cricket.
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