A blast from the past- this is my first ever article. A preview of WCQ 2014 from a Nepali perspective.

 

ICC world cup qualifier 2014 preview

This is a preview of the WCQ 2014 and of the teams in it.

10 teams will be in,out of which  2 will qualify to the ICC world cup 2015.

These teams will be the 3^rd-the 8^th teams in the WCL championship that is being played now between the top non-test teams,plus PNG and Hong Kong(from WCL division 2) and Uganda and Nepal(from WCL division 3).

The top 2 teams from this tournament qualify for the world cup.

An overview of the teams:

Ireland have already qualified automatically for the world cup(from WCL championship) so we will not include them in the discussion.

Afghanistan:

Afghanistan are one of the teams fighting for an automatic qualifying  spot to the world cup, and currently are one of the two teams most likely to make it.

Strengths:

Afghanistan  have the best bowling attack in the world today. Hamid Hassan,Shapoor Zadran, and Dawlat Zadran form a fast bowling attack that could rival most full members's attacks,and they are backed up very well by Mohammad Nabi and Hamza Hotak/Rahmat Shah in the spin department.

Weaknesses:

No real weaknesses,though their batting discipline needs to be improved.

Stars:

Mohammad Shahzad(bat),Mohammad Nabi(bat+spin),Hamid Hassan(fast),Shapoor Zadran(fast),Dawlat Zadran(fast),Gulbadeen Naib(bat+fast).

Chance to qualify:

10/10

Netherlands:

The Netherlands are the other team that can possibly get the automatic qualification berth from the WCL championship.

Strengths:

Experience. Holland have played the most games out of all the teams in this tournament,and have been in a lot of world cups already.

Their captain,Peter Borren,is from NZ and he knows the conditions well.

Weaknesses:

Their team is almost totally expats/plastic passport holders, and they are in very bad form now in the yb40.

Stars:

Their top star (Ryan ten Doeschate) is not available for this tournament,but they have a few other stars in Peter Borren(bat) and Timm van der gugten(fast)

Chance to qualify:

8/10; chance to maintain ODI status is 9/10.

Scotland:

Have a mathematical chance to qualify automatically, but almost surely won't make it.

Strengths:

Similar to Holland, most of their players have a lot of experience,due to the hole in eligibility rules that they used to sign up county players,including stalwarts like Neil Carter.

Weaknesses:

They have no truly great players,similar to NZ.

Stars:

Majid Haq(bat+spin),Neil Carter(fast),Richie Berrington(bat).

Chance for them to qualify:

9/10. Chance for ODI status 10/10.

Kenya:

They are virtually out of the WCL championship berth contention

Strength:

Batting. Kenya has a batting lineup that is the envy of most,now that their youngsters have finally matured. Kenya's bowlers are also amazing-when they have a good day.

Weaknesses:

Inconsistency. Kenya's team, especially the young bowlers,lack a lot in that discipline.

Stars:

Collins Obuya(bat),Rakep Patel(bat),Alex Obanda(bat),Nehemiah Odhiambo(fast),Nelson Mandela Odhiambo(fast).

Chance for them to qualify:

World cup-6/10. ODI status-9/10.

Canada:

Are out of contention for an automatic berth.

Strengths:

Not very many,I am sad to say. They have a few highly talented batsmen,and the recall of Ashish Bagai will be very welcome.

Weaknesses:

The best players don't get selected. In addition,no bowling talent is rising up.

Stars:

Ashish Bagai(bat),Rizwan Cheema(bat)

Chance for them to qualify:

World Cup-2/10  ODI status-4/10

UAE:

They have a very small chance of securing an automatic world cup spot from WCL championship.

Strengths:

They have a very experienced team,one of the most in the tournament.

Their batting and spin department are among the best.

Weaknesses:

Their fast bowling department is almost non-existent.

Their team is very old-the oldest in the tournament.

Stars:

Khurram Khan(bat),Shadeep Silva(spin),Arshad Ali(bat+spin)

Chance for them to qualify:

World cup-2/10. ODI status-5/10.

Namibia:

Are out of the race for an automatic  qualifier spot.

Strengths:

Namibia's policy of focusing on youth payedoff big time, so now they have a lot of young stars-especially in batting.

Weaknesses:

Lack of experience. Almost all of their players are very young,with only Sarel Burger and Christi Viljoen to provide experience.

Stars:

Raymond van Schoor(bat),Sarel Burger(bat),Louis van der Westhuisen(bat+spin),Christi Viljoen(bat+fast).

Chance for qualification:

World Cup-4/10. ODI status-6/10.

PNG:

Qualified for WCQ from WCL division 2.

Strengths:

A totally unknown side to the world.

They are very familiar with the conditions.

They have a huge amount of talent,and they get a lot of help by Australia that they can develop it.

Weaknesses:

Lack of experience.Not enough top class matches due to the fact that they are so dominant in the region.

Stars:

Geraint Jones(bat),Asad Vala(bat),Jack Vare(bat),Charles Amini(bat+spin),Joel Tom(fast)

Chance they have of qualifying:

World Cup-2/10  ODI status 4/10. The dark horses.

Hong Kong:

Qualified through WCL division 2 to WCQ

Strengths:

Spin attack and Jamie Atkinson.

Weaknesses:

Besides Atkinson there isn't much talent in the side.

Stars:

Jamie Atkinson

Chance for them to qualify:

Virtually zero.They will be very lucky if they don't finish last.

Nepal:

Qualified to WCQ through division 3.

Strengths:

The spin department,led by Shakti, is real good.

Weaknesses:

They don't have any good fast bowlers,which will hurt them badly.

Stars:

Paras Khadka(bat,pace),Shakti Gauchan(spin).

Chance to qualify:

1/10.The conditions will hurt them,since their spinners will probably be negated and they don't have good fast bowlers.They might qualify for HPP though.

Uganda:

Qualified to WCQ through division 3.

Strengths:

Pace bowling.Uganda has a lot of those,and they are quite good.

Weaknesses:

Batting. In WCL their batsmen regularly got bowled out for under 200.

Stars:

Roger Mukasa(bat+pace),Charles Waiswa(pace),Henry Ssenyondo(spin),Davis Arainaitwe(bat+spin)

Chances:

The conditions will suit them,and their bowlers are a handful,so they are dark horses for this tournament.1/10

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