Wasim, Sanjay spar; T20 trophy unveiled

New Delhi: The Twenty20 World Championship trophy was unveiled here on Tuesday even as former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram and former Indian middle order batsman Sanjay Manjrekar crossed swords as to who would lift the coveted trophy at the Lord's on June 21.

Akram reiterated his earlier statement that Pakistan is his favourite team to lift this year's title while Manjrekar, though not willing to put his money on any team, said India was the strongest team in the fray.

"Even though Pakistan lost the recent one-day series to Australia they won the T20 matches comfortably. They have not had much of cricket off late and will be hungry to prove themselves. Also they have a great lineup and with the likes of an in-form Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik are a balanced T20 side," Akram told reporters at a packed press conference.

Manjrekar was quick to retort that the current Indian team was even stronger than the side that had won the inaugural cup in South Africa in 2007.

"They are a more experienced and a better side and players like Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina have gained invaluable experience in these two years," he said.

Akram, who had earlier stated that Indian players will be tired after playing the IPL, climbed down a little after being quizzed about it and said, "I was talking about the mental fatigue and not the physical fatigue. When the World Cup comes, the energy comes back."

As the floor was thrown open to questions, Akram and Manjrekar were asked to enunciate the weak points of the Indian and Pakistani teams.

The sultan of swing was asked about Afridi's discipline and if he could mould himself to play his best for the team. Akram's response that no one, including him, had been able to teach Afridi how to listen had the audience in splits.

"Afridi can never listen to instructions. I could never change him in 10 years and he won't change in 100 years. We used to have a team meeting and we will tell Afridi to play out the new ball and then go for the shots. He'll say 'yes captain' to everything and then on the next day play a lofty shot on the first ball and get out," Akram recounted.

For Manjrekar, the biggest cause of worry was the body language of opener Gautam Gambhir.

"Gambhir looked a little under-confident (in the IPL) and his body language is a bit of a concern."

The elegant batsman, however, set aside any suggestions that Virender Sehwag was not in the best of his form and said, "Veeru is an exceptional player. Before he got out to the paddle sweep shot in the semis of the IPL, his 30 odd runs came in great style. I would say he's in form."

The two greats of the game, however, found much to agree upon as well - the most being on the role of the spinners in Twenty20.

"Because the IPL moved to South Africa people saw all the elements, including the role played by the spinners. In India, you get concrete pitches but as a batsmen on those kind of tracks you need skill to be able to slog the spinners," Manjrekar said.

Akram said that world players had realised that T20 was a different ball game. "In England, scores will be in the region of 170-180 and players will have to find new shots. The spinners are playing an important role and you can't come in any more and start playing your shots."

The talk veered towards who would feel the pressure and ESPN STAR Sports presenter Alan Wilkins said that apart from England, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will feel the heat with the immigrant population from these countries based in England.

Akram chipped in with another great one-liner: "England have been under pressure for the last 15 years."

Not to be outdone, Wilkins commented on Australia's chances saying that Ricky Ponting's men were eyeing both the T20 World Cup and the Ashes.

"I'm not sure they'll win both," said Wilkins, who added that West Indies could prove to be the dark horse of the tournament.

Asked about the amount of pressure India would feel while defending the title, Akram said: "Some teams thrive on pressure. Australia have won three back-to-back World Cups. So if India takes it in the right way, we could see some great performances.

"The best thing about this team is that they are not dependent on any one player. They are an awesome lineup and believe in themselves."

The press conference that was jointly organised by tournament broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports and the ICC also threw up some interesting numbers.

ESPN India's Managing Director R C Venkateish the tournament will be broadcst by them and through their syndicated partners to 216 countries, which is double of what was achieved in the previous edition.

"Even in terms o on-air sales, we have written 80 per cent move revenue as compared to the last edition," he said, adding that they had also decided to launch a live quiz game to increase interactivity with their audience.

The ICC was represented at the event by General Manager (Commercial), Campbell Jamieson who said that despite the economic slowdown, the game had in the past never been in such a strong position globally.