List of underdogs in ICC Cricket World Cup 2011:
Ireland: Squad: William Porterfield (C), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Niall O’Brien (WK), Kevin O’Brien, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson (WK), Andrew White, Ed Joyce.
Plus Point: Ed Joyce has scored more than 10,000 runs in domestic cricket. That is something, which his teammates have scored collectively. Joyce, who was first playing for England made his debut in cricket against Ireland. The 32 year old player has got the opportunity to represent his birth of country this time. Certainly his experience will be the one that can be very handy.
WC Record: It was certainly a dream debut for the Irish. They kicked out the most dangerous Pakistan team from the WC in the last edition in West Indies. Besides that they made a thrilling tie against the Zimbabweans, who were going ahead smoothly at one stage. In the super eights staged they knocked out the Bangladesh team. So don’t be shocked if they are able to beat the heavyweights again.
Netherlands: Squad: Peter Borren (C), Wesley Baressl (WK), Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Adeel Raja, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Swarczynski, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent.
Plus Point: The main team member in the Dutch would be certainly Ryan ten Doeschate. He would be the player, who can be the most dangerous. He is having a good county experience for Essex, playing the role of all rounder in the team. The 20 year old young man is filled up with class and talent.
WC Record: They have won only two games in their three appearances in the WC. So to be very precise, the Dutch doesn’t look threatening. But surely they would like to upset many top ranked teams in this edition. They will need to give more than cent percent in the game and not only that then they would also have to rely on luck.
Kenya: Squad: Jimmy Kamande (C), Tanmay Mishra, James Ngoche, Shem Ngoche, Alex Obanda, Collins Obuya, David Obuya (WK), Nehemiah Odhiambo, Thomas Odoyo, Peter Ongondo, Elijah Otieno, Maurice Ouma (WK), Rakep Patel, Steve Tikolo, Seren Waters.
Plus Point: The Kenyan team is not star studded ones. But still they have the most experienced player Steve Tikolo. The 39 year old has made comeback to his side and eventually gained form as he scored unbeaten 126 against the Afghanistan in a warm up match last Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
WC Record: They really surprised the cricketing world by defeating the West Indies team in 1996 edition in Pune. But the major stunning scene was during the 2003 edition where they cruised through the Semi final which was extraordinary from them.
Canada: Squad: Ashish Bagal (C & WK), Karl Whatham, Khurram Chohan, Nitish Kumar, Rizvan Cheema, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Hamza Tariq, Zubin Surkari, Balaji Rao, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Jimmy Hansra, Parth Desai, Harvir Baidwan, John Davison.
Plus Point: No one can forget the name of John Davison, who is the man who has scored the fastest century in the history of WC. Apart from that no one is there to be the man for the nation. But according to the coach team’s skipper Ashish Bagal can be key player in the tournament. He is a wicket keeper and a useful batsman too.
WC Record: This will be their second appearance. The North American side which has quite few players of Indian origin, who made their WC debut in 2003. They defeated the Bangladesh team by whooping 60 runs. John Davison scored 111 from 76 deliveries against the West Indies but unfortunately lost the game.
Tags: Canada, Cricket, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, Underdogs, World Cup