I suspect too that with spin emerging as the most effective form of bowling, they had too few options. Nathan Hauritz isn’t scaring anyone and Clarke and Hussey are back up spinners. But the mystery to me was Lee who had bowled wonderfully during the IPL and while the quality of batting here would be higher, you expect a leading cricketer to raise his game similarly. That didn’t happen and Lee looked a bit lost when the ball started vanishing. Interestingly the two best Australian bowlers during the IPL were Shane Warne and Dirk Nannes, one retired, the other wearing orange!

I must confess I find Pakistan’s cricket perplexing too. You would have thought that the T20 format was tailormade for their style of play and into the second week we might well discover that to be the case. But they need a strong batsman at the top of the order and they need to dust Sohail Tanvir to rediscover the gem in their midst. If a side can keep Tanvir on the bench it must be, by some distance, the best bowling side in the tournament. Pakistan isn’t! And unless Afridi rediscovers the real reason batsmen take a bat out with them, they might find their balance affected rather badly.

And unfortunately for them, Bangladesh are confirming an increasingly popular view that they are making absolutely no progress at all. There is undeniable ability in that side but they have made a habit of playing below potential to the extent that one can question whether the original assumption of potential was flawed. It is a team that is crying out for a leader like Shane Warne who can make people believe in their ability, sometimes convince them of ability where its existence may be in doubt! Happily for cricket, though sadly for Bangladesh, we are discovering that leadership is a huge component of T20 cricket.

... contd.