Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, two of the biggest power hitters in Indian cricket, believe that this World Cup will be all about the ‘musclemen’. “This is the era of power hitters. You even have the third powerplay. The game has really changed in the last 10 years. Earlier, 250-260 was a winning score. Now, the team batting second knows that even 350 is gettable,” Yuvraj said here on Friday.
Sehwag credited the Twenty20 format for this radical shift. “Now batsmen believe they can score 10 runs per over in an ODI. That’s because they’ve done it in T20. It will be interesting to see how teams chase in this World Cup,” Sehwag said.
The ‘Delhi Dasher’ maintained that power hitters are set to hog the limelight. “When the required run rate is 10, then both teams will think they have a chance. Earlier, the fielding side would consider itself victors in such situations. But now, it’s a different ballgame. Power hitters can dictate terms,” he added.
Both Sehwag and Yuvraj were part of the Indian side that lost to Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup. And quite understandably, the duo can’t wait to take on the neighbours in the opening match on February 19. “I think we have lost to Bangladesh only on two occasions. And one of them was during the 2007 World Cup. We can’t wait to face them again. We are charged up and we’ll hopefully do well against them this time,” Sehwag said.
Yuvi, too, has forgettable memories of that game. They were one of the reasons why we didn’t qualify. We are preparing really well for the first game and are raring to go,” he said.
The left-hander said that comparisons with the 1983 World Cup-winning side will be valid only if the current lot can win the trophy. “The team can be a great one, but winning is important. The ’83 team was successful because they won the World Cup and if we are good team then we will have to prove by winning the cup. The team can be strong on paper, but it’s important that you win the tournament,” he said. Yuvraj admitted that the experience in the team will help them big time. “We have a lot of experience in our bowling and batting and if we can field well, then we will certainly do well in the World Cup,” he said.
Today’s warm-up fixtures
In Colombo: Kenya vs West Indies
In Colombo: Sri Lanka vs Netherlands
In Chittagong: Bangladesh vs Canada
In Nagpur: Ireland vs New Zealand
In Chennai: South Africa v Zimbabwe
