Zimbabwe has been in international cricket for a long time. And during this entire tenure, barring perhaps as couple of years in the late 1990s, they have been minnows. Sri Lanka was once a minnow. As was India (yes, face it). But India and Sri Lanka have moved up and are now the big boys. True Zimbabwe has not played for as long and when they were looking like a side that could move up, they were hit by political problems that jeopardized their existence in cricket altogether. Contests - Predict MoS | Predict MoM
 
So are they still part of World Cricket only because of their legacy? Because they were there before Ireland and Canada and Kenya? Is there no merit-based system that would allow Ireland or Kenya to replace them as a Test playing nation? The question is how long should a minnow be a minnow? If after more than 25 years of playing international cricket, Zimbabwe is still among the bottom-feeders, there is a need for change. Of late, all their cricket has been against Bangladesh and they barely won that too.
 
There was also the curious case of Bangladesh being offered Test nation status and how badly it has backfired is there for all to see. Which is why performance based systems may just be the answer. But we are not worried about who are the Test playing nations at this time. We would like to ask how long should Zimbabwe be allowed direct entry into the World Cup? Why should they not be asked to qualify? Honestly, had they been made to play the qualifiers, they perhaps would not have made it to the Caribbean. And it would not have surprised me to see some others fail too!
 
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Sri Lanka’s welcome return to form almost didn’t happen. Mahela Jayawardene was indeed lucky to be dropped on 0 off the first ball he faced. He made Bermuda pay but can he make India pay? Will India give him a second chance? With all due respect, India does have a better bowling attack than Bermuda! But Sri Lanka would be rather pleased with their margin of victory and the emphatic nature of it.
 
The bowling looked good, but there were still some chinks in the batting that could easily be exploited by better teams. They need to watch out!

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