IPL3's contribution towards World T20

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IPL3 is over but the T20 season has not finished yet. The World T20 is all set to start and one can see the frenzy once again. This year, it is in the Caribbean islands where spin is expected to play a big role.

Let us see who are the players from IPL3 who can benefit from BCCI's adventure. There are quite a few Indian players who did well in IPL3 but they are not in the XV selected for the World Cup - the biggest name of them all, Sachin Tendulkar. The others who might feel unlucky will be 3 of the 4 active international players who have picked 20, 17, 12 wickets respectively - Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, R Ashwin. All 3 spinners and everyone who have played a major role in their IPL team's journey.

Dale Steyn, Lasith Malinga, Zaheer Khan, Muralitharan, Vinay Kumar are the others who have performed well (12, 13, 14, 13, 15 wickets respectively) with the ball - they will be turning out for their national team. South Africa, Sri Lanka and India will benefit by these bowlers as these bowlers will be in high confidence after their performance at the IPL.

Similarly, with the bat, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan played well and scored runs (by fours and sixes) at a very good strike-rate. These players might be feeling the heat of the IPL3 as well as the travel but high on confidence. Jayawardene will provide Sri Lanka with a good option for opening the batting while Jacques Kallis might tempt South Africa to follow the RCB model of opening the batting.

The other countries did not have their players contribute much to their IPL teams - maybe they might regain their intensity when they play for their nation. Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard did decently in the tournament, especially the latter. Australian national players mostly boycotted the tournament but ones like Warner, Watson and the Hussey brothers gained match practice (in fact, surprised to see Bollinger not in the squad). England's Collingwood, KP and Lumb must have gained invaluable experience from the Indian tournament. Of course, Pakistan, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe did not benefit any iota from IPL - will they not do well? Let us see.

Hence, looking at these players and their performance, I would consider India, Sri Lanka, South Africa to get to the semi-finals. Of course, South Africa should work on their mental block of not getting to the finals of international tournaments. India and Sri Lanka both have good chances to win the tournament with their superior spinners (who are decent batsmen as well).

Let us see how the tournament pans out. Who is your favorite then?

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