Australia will come out stronger

The ICC authorities have fixed up a real Super Sunday for fans of the T20 format with India, the former champs, playing South Africa and Pakistan, the current champs, playing Australia. These will be matches that will have everything that a cricket lover wants. There will be top-class batting with some great hitting, there will be some fine bowling and there will be acrobatic fielding that will take ones breath away. Above all, there will be drama, for when these teams play against each other, there is no quarter given or asked for.

South Africa have won just one title --- the Champions Trophy over a decade back --- and, thereafter, have struggled to get rid of the chokers’ tag. With the kind of talent they have, they should be winning more titles but they falter in crunch games. Last year in the ICC World T20 in England, they looked unbeatable in the league stage but when it came to the crunch game, they folded badly. They would be hoping to get rid of that tag in this tournament.

The Australians have won just about every trophy in world cricket barring this one. This is the one they want so bad that it can be seen in the way they are training and playing. Some of their players have had some rest after the tour of New Zealand while some have played in the IPL and so are match-ready. This is a great combination, for the freshness of those who didn’t play combined with those who have had the experience of the IPL will ensure that they are much more stronger this time around.

They will be the danger team and if they beat the defending champions, they will be on a roll. Pakistan too will be fresh after a break from international competition for some time. They are under a new skipper who will look to lead from the front and, as always, they are an unpredictable team.

If they leave their dressing room issues behind and take the field in a competitive frame of mind, they will be hard to beat.