Cricket World Cup 2011 Squads/ Teams

Squads for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Asia: 
AUSTRALIA
Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke (vice-capt), Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin (wk), John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine (wk), Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson, Cameron White. 
BANGLADESH
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Tamim Iqbal (vice-capt), Abdur Razzak, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Naeem Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Raqibul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Suhrawadi Shuvo. 
CANADA
Ashish Bagai (capt & wk), Rizwan Cheema (vice-capt), Harvir Baidwan, Khurram Chohan, John Davison, Parth Desai, *Tyson Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Jimmy Hansra, Nitish Kumar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Balaji Rao, Zubin Surkari, Hamza Tariq, Karl Whatham.
*Tyson Gordon is awaiting confirmation of Canadian citizenship, so 16 players have been named 
ENGLAND
Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (wk), Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy. 
INDIA
Mahendra Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar. 
IRELAND
William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien (wk), Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson (wk), Andrew White. 
KENYA
Jimmy Kamande (capt), Tamnay Mishra, James Ngoche, Shem Ngoche, Alex Obanda, David Obuya (wk), Collins Obuya, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Thomas Odoyo, Peter Ongondo, Elijah Otieno, Maurice Ouma (wk), Rakep Patel, Steve Tikolo, Seren Waters.
NETHERLANDS
Peter Borren (capt), Wesley Baressi (wk), Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman (wk), Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Adeel Raja, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Swarczynski, Ryan ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent.
NEW ZEALAND
Daniel Vettori (capt), Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum (wk), Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, Luke Woodcock.
PAKISTAN
Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal (wk), Younus Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir, Ahmed Shehzad. 
SOUTH AFRICA
Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Francois du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk (wk).
SRI LANKA
Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), Mahela Jayawardene (vice-capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Rangana Herath. Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Thisara Perera, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga.
WEST INDIES
Darren Sammy (capt), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh (wk), Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith.
ZIMBABWE
Elton Chigumbura (capt), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Sean Ervine, Greg Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Edward Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams.

Reasons Why Pakistan Will Win Cricket World Cup 2011

Reasons Why Pakistan Will Win Cricket World Cup 2011, I had originally thought of writing a snarkfest on the inquiry in Doha. But on full reflection that comedy of stitch-ups can be dismissed with the swiftness of a Sehwag innings in South Africa. For, once again, the ICC have bungled it.

This little trial, with its officialdom and orderly calm, has had just the one plus point: the chance for three sportsmen to wear suits. (I am convinced sports stars don the two-piece and collar and tie at the first opportunity, to convince their mothers they have proper jobs.)

The ICC’s main man, Michael Beloff, is fully deserving of his QC status, but this is like sending the world’s best hostage negotiator to ask a six-year-old to return a McDonalds Happy Meal toy to his younger brother. This is playing with a straight bat when you need a reverse sweep over short third man for six. This is keeping it un-deceptively simple, and this is not going to work.

You want the truth from the fumbling, fudging, fibbing trio of Butt, Amir and Asif? Try this: put them in a room, one after the other, with Imran Khan. No one-way mirror, no lawyers, no Holy Quran for them to swear on. Just a table and two chairs. Let Imran ask the questions, flanked on one side by Javed Miandad, dressed in prison-guard uniform, and on the other, firmly in front of the exit door, Inzamam-ul-Haq, wielding one of those illegally wide tape-ball bats. The truth shall not just prevail but burst forth from the accuseds’ lips like they were on Mount Olympus faced with the wrath of all the gods.

Having brushed aside legal minutiae with a sweep as easy and quick as Alastair Cook against whoever it was that bowled spin for the Aussies these past few weeks, let me tell you why Pakistan are going to win the World Cup.

Never before has this nation been so cornered and so gagging for sharp-toothed tigers. With this team, however, I think Pakistan, so often heralded as the unpredictables, but this time totally unfancied, will go all the way. These are my 11 men to snatch the cup from an unsuspecting world:

Kamran Akmal
Has hustled the entire world into thinking he is either a cheat or incompetent or both. It is all part of a four-and-a-half year masterstroke by the PCB and Kamran himself. For he is still there and he will make the World Cup and he will remind the world just how good we thought he was going to be back in early 2006.

Mohammad Hafeez
This man has survived a torrential storm of abuse from Shahid Afridi and come out alive. That takes some spunk, so no wonder he is now Pakistan’s most reliable batsman. For those who don’t get the reference, and who are over 18, type “afridi hafeez” in Youtube.

Younis Khan
This Khan is just pissed off that the best cricketer called Khan in the world right now is, apparently, an Indian. Oh dear, cricket world. You’ve said it now. Younis is a nice man, a wonderful man, the best of men, but some things cannot be forgiven.

Misbah-ul-Haq
This spot might ultimately be taken by one of the young guns – perhaps Asad Shafiq or Azhar Ali. But I want to see Misbah there. The Quiet Man of Pakistani cricket just broke his voice with the Test captaincy. No more last-ball scoop-sweeps. It’ll be over well before then as Misbah combines MBA-trained calculation with straight drives over long-off. Inshallah.

Umar Akmal
I once thought him the new Viv Richards. I still do. Maybe I shouldn’t drink so much and listen to all that psychedelic reggae.

Shahid Afridi
This mentalist plays well in India. Maybe it’s the flat tracks, maybe the Indian actresses in the hotel lobbies, maybe it’s the water and how it poofs his hair just right. Who cares? In India he is going to clear up because he always does.

Abdur Razzaq
Razzaq is the sniper of Pakistan cricket. He waits and waits (and we wait and wait) and then suddenly he kills the enemy general and wins the war. Opposition teams, with your plans and strategies and laptops, tell me this: what can you do about the killer you don’t even see till he finishes you with a lethal blow?

Abdur Rehman
A year ago everyone (at least all my cousins) said Saeed Ajmal was the best limited-overs spinner in the world. Now Rehman takes the slot. Oh, how much can change in a year. Admittedly Mike Hussey is the main reason for this changeover, but Rehman does look pretty decent.

Wahab Riaz
Lahore has a new lion. Look at this guy prowl around, whether with bat or ball in hand. He has no discernible talent, and judging from the News of the World story, he is not a particularly discerning judge of character. It matters not. This man will be the star of the World Cup. You heard it here first. (You also must have heard that Page 2 is satire.)

Umar Gul
I have to say I do not understand Gul. He takes this Pakistani thing of swaying from great to godawful to extreme lengths. So if it’s the latter, Pakistan can bring in Sohail Tanvir, the man who is such a big swinger he should’ve been born in the sixties.

Shoaib Akhtar
Like a cockroach, he never dies. Like a cockroach, he will crawl all over the subcontinent, making tough men back away like little girls, and then he will scamper around in limb-stretched celebration.

12th Man. Asad Shafiq
I have it on good authority that Shafiq is the most promising water-carrier since Didier Deschamps. In a hot subcontinental March, this will be the difference between dry-lipped gazes at the cup from a distance and drinking from it greedily, tasting the sweet nectar of victory, and awaking fresh from a five-year nightmare.