A letter to Brendon McCullum

Dear Brendon,

I am writing this letter as a well loved tribute to you. Every time I watch you bat, I am mesmerized. The fearlessness, aggressiveness and making the opposition feel that they are just not worthy enough. You can bruise the bowling attack like very few other men in international cricket. As long as you are at the crease, It is just impossible to go through daily's work. You have sparkled the belief in this kiwi team that anything is possible. Last year was full of extraordinary moments you provided. Scoring 500+ runs against India in two test series, Making a double ton against Pakistan, Crashing Sri Lankan bowlers all across the park in innings of 195, humiliation of England in 25 ball 77, toying with Johnson in 21 ball 50, all these have shown how powerful a force you are for this New Zealand and world cricket.

If not for you, New Zealand would never have become a force in cricket which they certainly are at this moment. The winning streaks, the momentum, the confidence all have originated from your superb leadership. It appears as if you are looking in your player's eyes and saying : "You can do anything". You have simply pushed the level of aggression in captaincy. You are arguably the best captain in the world right now. Very few captains would give their oppositions more than 120 overs to chase down a total of 380 when you are already 1-0 up in two match series. Starting the innings with three or four slips and giving the bowlers a belief such that the slip cordon lasts longer than most other teams. The electrifying pieces of fielding leading from the front explains it all.

You took captaincy from Ross in uncertain times and Most of the people would not have agreed to that. There would have been a lot of tension between Ross and You when that decision was made. But, you overcame it and now you have completely changed the future of New Zealand cricket. It is very very difficult to believe now that Once this team was beaten four-nil against Bangladesh. When You are on ground, it appears as if you are everywhere. From running to chatting with bowlers to hitting boundaries in the umbrella. You are the spearhead and the source of energy for New Zealand cricket. Hitting 95 miles balls as if they are just meant to be.:) You throw yourself around to every ball you face and have set up quite a standard for others to follow.

You have been a real source of inspiration for all the cricket fans across the world. Always trying to win, trying to take the game forward. Looking at the format of the current world cup, where one bad game can end the tournament for you, It is very difficult to predict the winner. But I want you to know, whether you win or lose, You will always be loved. If anyone can give this world cup to New Zealand, then it's you.

From,
A Big Fan.

World cup 2015 : Things to watch out for

Although, T20 has created a lot of impact on cricket lovers, the 50-over format of cricket still remains the format to watch out for. Still, remarkable careers are made and destroyed in this format. Following are the things to watch out for in this world cup:

1. New Zealand

There has been no New Zealand world cup team, from which there had ever been so much expectations compared to current one. New Zealand have surpassed all the expectations in reaching the stage from where they are looking a serious contenders for the trophy. They have got a lot of match winners. Kane Williamson is carrying whole of the nation forward by scoring heaps of runs, Brendon McCullum is giving them firepower both with the bat and with aggressive captaincy, Ross Taylor has got his ODI form back, Boult is starting to provide the sharpness of test cricket in ODIs too, In Corey and Ronchi they have got terrific hard hitters and finishers, the spin legend Vettori is still sublime. They just don't know how good they have become. This nation of four million is hungrier than ever this time.

2. South Africa

Since the time, South Africa came back to cricket, they have got their own spark in them. Teams are afraid to play them in group stages. Their world cup journey so far has been full of sheer drama, batting collapses, dropped catches and losing on all occasions. They have got everything in the world cup apart from being the actual winners. Last time, it were New Zealand, who knocked them out when they failed to handle the big game pressure. Although, this time they have arrived with all the major players having a dream run. ABD just outsmarted everyone in reaching fastest ODI hundred, Amla and Steyn are beyond descriptions. They have got hard hitters like Miller and Duminy. They are going to crush the associates, that's for sure. The only thing to watch out is how badly they crush the others in group stages. After that, they need some luck and this time the trophy may go to Africa continent.

3. Indian Batting

The reason I am mentioning Indian batting is because the kind of bowling lineup India has, their batsmen always have to do some extra stuffs to win a cricket game. they have done that in recent couple of ICC tournaments. Their batting is so scary that against the associates like UAE, there is a real chance of 500 runs from them. India has evolved beyond other teams in terms of ODI batting. No other team in the world has the number of match winning batsmen as India has. Scoring at any required rate is not impossible for this team. Plus, the biggest factor with this team is their captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Since, It may be his last world cup, he would not want to leave anything behind to make it memorable. We have a real chance of another double hundred from one of the batsmen in this team.

4. Australia

Almost all the things are right with this australian team. The home environment, the form of current team, the bench strength : all these factors make them the biggest contender for the world cup. The problem which they may face is a really bad day in the knockout stage. They defeated South Africans convincingly in recently concluded ODI and T20 series, retained Border-Gavaskar trophy, remained unbeated during triumph in Tri-series against India and England. No doubt, Australia will begin the world cup as favorites. Australia will have the added advantage of knowing the conditions of playing ground in all matches. Australia have got the best pace attack in Johnson, Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and they have a bunch of seam bowling allrounders like Faulkner, Mitchell Marsh, Watson. With the return of Clarke as skipper, this team looks almost invincible.

5. Associates

Minnows like UAE, Scotland, Ireland, Afganistan will have to go through a very hard time in this world cup. Looking at the history of the upsets happened in the past, no big team would take them lightly. The inclusion of associates have made people angry too. There will be too many meaningless games. There will over a month of cricket before there is any real possibility of elimination of a major team from this world cup. Associates will annoy people. Still, some of the teams like Afganistan may surprise some big team or at least give them a scare.

For sure, This world cup will make some of the people happy, some of them sad and bitter and some of them analyzing over ifs and buts. This will be the sixth world cup in my lifetime. Let us all enjoy this one. All of us will be at cricket at the same time and you can't afford to miss it.