World cup wonders

Ramnaresh Sarwan

Everyone here remembers this sparkling youngster, India8217;s tormenter of a few months ago. Experts are already labelling him the 8216;8216;next Lara8217;8217; but he is more dependable, consistent. He can take an attack apart with his strokes, he can demoralise the field with his quick running, he can save runs with his brilliant fielding; he has a good defence and can change gears at will. He is dependable and showed, while in India, that he can perform under pressure.

Born to Indian parents, Sarwan8217;s other passion is, not surprisingly, Hindi movies favourite film: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

The baby of the team, he8217;s popular in the dressing room, where his mentor is Carl Hooper, and his hero Brian Lara. His closest buddies are Reon King and Mahendra Nagamotoo and it8217;s these two who helped him through a difficult period after he lost his girlfriend to pneumonia. That tragedy may have squashed some of his young spirit but, thankfully, hasn8217;t diminished his appetite for the game.

DILIP VENGSARKAR, former India captain
Matthew Hayden

I know this may display an Aussie bias, but I8217;d plump for Hayden because he8217;s been in dream form whether Tests or one-dayers. He8217;s a hard-hitting left-handed batsman who began his run-spree with a fine display against the Indian spinners, a great striker of the ball who can play all the shots in the book. Steve Waugh rates him as the best batsman he8217;s ever seen. Can give his team a flying start in the first 15 overs or so, if he gets going, will put Australia way ahead of the opposition. His opening partnership with Justin Langer is drawing comparisons with 8212; hold your breath 8212; Greenidge and Haynes.

Since he8217;s been brought up on hard Australian wickets, he could only fare well in South Africa. 8216;8216;Hulk8217;8217; Hayden is said to be the fittest players in the world but says it is his new-found self-belief and mental strength that have turned him into a run-making machine.

Brett Lee

The fastest bowler in the world, he can rattle the best in the business through sheer pace. On his young shoulders he8217;s only 22 Lee carries the burden of continuing Australia8217;s great pace tradition. He8217;s given enough indications so far of what he can do; ask England8217;s Alex Tudor, whose head now bears the scars of six stitches after being beamed. He8217;s matured over the years but it would be interesting to see how he bowls with the new ball, where there is a heavy accent on accuracy. He has shown, in recent times, that he8217;s up to the task. His ability to get wickets and into the opposition early in the innings is another plus. Extremely fit, can be a useful bat in the lower order though given the Australian line-up I don8217;t think it8217;s a quality he8217;ll be asked to prove.

Lee8217;s off-the-field interests are less menacing; he8217;s an angler and sometime bassist in a rock band and aficionado of fast 8212; very fast, obviously 8212; cars. And, before making it big, was a suit salesman. Then, to the despair of batsmen the world over, switched trades.

HARDEEK LADHANI, winner ESPN Super Selector, October 2002
Virender Sehwag

The sensation of 2002, the Sachin clone who finally outgrew the clone tag and developed an identity of his own besides outscoring the Original in most of the matches they played together. His strength is his hard-hitting style, which can tear apart any opposition and turn a match on its head. What Sehwag needs to find right now is his form, which has deserted him, fast.

Few will remember Sehwag8217;s one-day debut, against Pakistan at Mohali in 1998-99, when he got out for 1 and was then hammered in the three overs he bowled. He could have played in the last world cup 8212; he made the 19 probables but not the final cut. All that seems a long way now for the boy from Najafgarh in Delhi, whose brand value and pulling power at the turnstiles is matched only by Sachin. Indeed, he8217;s done 8212; with some success 8212; what no one would have ever dreamed: replacing Sachin Tendulkar. Not just pushing Tendulkar down the order to take the opener8217;s spot, but matching the master blaster in endorsements too. The self-confessed milk addict whose family runs an atta ka chakki business is suddenly seen gracing all manner of celebrity events. An ardent Hindi film buff, Sehwag now rubs shoulders with stars whom he once watched on the silver screen. But there8217;s a strong work ethic: teammates speak of his tour schedule of dinner at eight and straight to bed. After that mandatory glass of milk.

Makhaya Ntini

Ntini8217;s the poster boy for South African cricket8217;s development programmes for less-privileged blacks. He8217;s come a long way from the mud huts of Mdingi on the Eastern Cape to one of his country8217;s biggest hopes for the world cup. He will benefit, of course, from home advantage. But he is anyway disciplined in line and length and is a deadly wicket-taker.

He has a different bowling action, releasing the ball from the edge of the crease. The story goes that when he was 12 years old he was gifted his first spikes. But the concrete pitches in his village meant the young man had to tread carefully, so, to avoid any mishap, he8217;d bowl from outside the cement wicket.

Things have changed but he remembers his lessons.

CYRUS BROACHA, veejay, humorist, cricket-lover

My list of debutants will leave a longer impression than Ranatunga in a tub of mud. And before you scoff at them, keep in mind that if I didn8217;t have a career spanning 12 tests with 24 centuries, and an average of 50-plus, it was completely unintentional.

Taufeeq Umar

Pakistan are currently functioning as half a team, with as many factions and splits as is possible only in sub-continent politics. Pakistan is the team most in need of a saviour. And while Younis Khan8217;s pedigree and talent are awesome, Taufeeq, who made runs in Zimbabwe and South Africa against the new ball Pakistan plays world cup matches in both those countries, is the only batsman with confidence in the present line-up. He8217;ll bat up the order and probably his form, more than that of Saeed Anwar8217;s or even Yousuf Yohanna8217;s, will dictate the course Pakistan will eventually take.

Andy Blignaught

Zimbabwe play all their first-round fixtures at home and, though recently walloped by Pakistan, remain dangerous there. We in India have seen how handy a player Andy Blignaught is. A genuine seam bowler who can find pace, first-class in the field and a more than handy batsman, ready to tonk a few. Zimbabwe8217;s attack is in the hands of Blignaught and Streak. While Streak is a known devil, Blignaught is relatively new. But more than that, he8217;s got an irreverent attitude to the game. This bindaas attitude may just be what the doctor ordered.

Marlon Samuels

My favourite team is, of course, the West Indies. They8217;ve found somebody real special; he showed his class and grit in his debut series in Australia and his maturity and evolution last year in India. He has a regal lazy bearing and reminds one of the great Viv Richards. And we all know West Indies need a Richards today. His name, by the way, is Marlon Samuels.

If they don8217;t have outstanding world cups, I8217;m ready to quit the Indian team.

We8217;ve picked two players each from other experts8217; lists. However, in our last burst of New Year goodwill, we8217;ve gifted Broacha a hat-trick to help him keep his place in the Indian team. He owes us one.