The Super Eights phase begins from the 11th of June and the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts may have some shuffling to be done. For starters, the eight teams are now divided into two groups of four each; India, South Africa, England and West Indies will belong to Group E, whereas Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland would be in Group F. Preview to Group F:The most obvious conclusion that can come out of the above groupings is that in general terms, it will be favourable to have batsmen from the group F, as they will have one game against the slightly weaker bowling of Ireland. That said, a bowler of the calibre of Ajantha Mendis will also have the Irish in front of him, making it easier for him to capture some of his wickets, and I would be very surprised if he does not make it to the starting eleven of most of Fantasy experts. I am not too sure if too many Sports Pundit fantasy experts will pick Sanath Jayasuriya in their teams, as currently, T.Dilshan’s batting looks to be in a far superior touch than the veteran stalwart. The Kiwis are looking at a long list of injuries as well, and one cannot be sure of who will end up playing for them in their first game against Ireland. Daniel Vettori’s shoulder is a struggle, Ross Taylor has a hamstring trouble, Iain O’Brien was out of the last game due to his share of injury and Jesse Ryder may have played his last game in the tournament. Brendon McCullum could continue to captain the side in his absence, and that will put extra pressure on his batting for sure.
Bad, bad shoulder!Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad was dropped in the game against Netherlands, and Kamran Akmal had opened the innings instead and it wouldn’t be too off the mark to see him do the same again. However, the one injury worry that the Pakistanis have is with Sohail Tanvir, who looked as fit as an eighty years old man on his death bed in the Holland game. In all probabilities, he will be subbed by an Anjum Rao Iftikhar, but to me, it is their spinners who will have a greater role to play; Shahid Afridi had a four-wicket haul against the Dutch and it could just be the turn of Saeed Ajmal to repeat the magic.
Should hold key in middle oversIreland have their own injury woes, what with their main man, Niall O’Brien having hurt his leg and he may not be fit enough to play against India. However, it has been said that the injury isn’t serious and he could be back as early as in the game against New Zealand. He will be a definite batsman to watch out for in the second round.
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