Slogans and success mantras of top 10 international teams

Over the years, teams have changed and their legacies and strategies have also changed.

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International cricket has got a lot more intense and hectic these days. Teams are constantly on the road and are playing continuous cricket. But teams have found ways to cope with it.

Over the years, teams have changed and their legacies and strategies have also changed. Each team has its own style and brand of cricket. England revolutionised the white-ball game after the 2015 World Cup drubbing. India who were a largely spin dominated team have started making a statement with their fast bowlers.

Thus, different teams have their own slogans or success mantras. Here are the success mantras of the top 10 teams in international cricket.

Top 10 teams and their slogans and success mantras:

1. South Africa – Avoid the choke?

South Africa
South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

You think of South Africa and you think of one word and that’s choking. Right from the time they were readmitted into cricket in 1992, they haven’t had the rub of the green in knockouts. In fact, the Proteas have tended to collapse or choke in the crunch moments.

Take most of the ICC tournaments and you will see South Africa choking in the knockouts. They’ve tended to crumble in high-pressure situations. They tend to play bilaterals and the group stages of any tournament really well but haven’t got across the line even once in the multi-team tournaments.

In fact, South Africa seem to be focusing too much on not choking and playing the way they play in group stages. However, it hasn’t helped. The pressure is getting to them and the ‘C’ tag hovers around their head all the time.

2. Sri Lanka – Spring a surprise

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Ever since the retirement of the big legends like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, TM Dilshan and the few more, Sri Lanka’s cricket has been on the decline. They haven’t been consistent at all.

In fact, there have been phases where they have looked far from winning a single game. But in the recent past, they’ve come out of nowhere and won big games, big series. Take the Test series against Pakistan in UAE in late 2017 or even the T20I series in Pakistan in 2019 or the big Test series win in South Africa, Sri Lanka have come out of nowhere to spring a major shock.

Even in the World Cup last year, they beat eventual champions England in the group stages to put the latter’s qualification in jeopardy for some time. Hence, Sri Lanka keep springing up superb performances and that’s become a norm in the recent past in international cricket across formats.

3. Pakistan – Predict the unpredictable

Pakistan (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

There is one thing that you will certainly get from Pakistan and that is unpredictability. You never know which Pakistan side will take the field on that particular day. They are one team that makes you pull your hair one day and will make you stand up and applaud them the next day.

The 2019 World Cup very well underlines that fact. They lost 0-4 to England in the ODI series preceding the big tournament but beat them when it mattered the most. After a string of losses, they bounced back with back to back wins and threatened to make it to the top four.

Pakistan’s inconsistency has been a talking point on multiple occasions. Thus, predicting the unpredictability is the only constant for Pakistan. In fact, they could well be termed as arguably the most unpredictable team in world cricket.

4. Afghanistan – Don’t take them lightly

Afghanistan (Photo by Christopher Lee-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)

If Bangladesh’s rise in ODI cricket has been exceptional, Afghanistan’s rise from the dead to become a Test-playing nation is nothing short of remarkable. In a mere decade’s time, they’ve become a full-member nation in the ICC. They’ve fought against all odds and have done really well.

There’s no doubt that Afghanistan still need to learn the art of beating big teams and have just managed to cause an upset or two here and there. But they seem to be getting better all the time. The Afghans have some absolute superstars who are mainstays of T20 leagues around the world. Be it Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman or the others, they are big players and match-winners.

Thus, no team can afford to take them lightly in any format. Afghanistan are getting better with experience and could be one of the top teams in the years to come.

5. Bangladesh – Not minnows anymore

Bangladesh
Bangladesh. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Every time Bangladesh beat a big team before 2014-15, it was considered a pretty significant result and upset. However, in the last few years, they’ve taken their cricket (especially white-ball cricket) to another level. The rise in ODI cricket has been exceptional and they cannot be underestimated.

They’ve beaten Pakistan, India and South Africa at home in ODI cricket. They qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup and the semi-finals of the 2017 Champions Trophy. They even did well in the 2019 World Cup. Hence, Bangladesh are no pushovers anymore.

They have the quality and have been pretty consistent. They have even challenged teams in the longest format and won Test matches against the top teams at home. Their main aim will be to get better while playing in alien conditions. However, the Bangla boys aren’t minnows anymore and can not be taken lightly.

6. West Indies – Play hard, party harder

West Indies
West Indies. (Photo by Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

After a tough period, West Indies seems to be back on track. While the results may still not go their way consistently, they seem to be on the right track. The big guns are slowly coming back and with Kieron Pollard (in white-ball cricket) and Jason Holder (in Tests) at helm at the moment, West Indies cricket seems to be in good hands.

However, for a few years now, there’s one mantra that the men from the Caribbean follow and that is to play hard and fair on the field, express themselves but also party harder. They are one team that will show off their moves on the field through the celebrations.

Be it the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell or the others, they aren’t shy of showing off their moves/celebrations.

7. New Zealand – The nice guys

New Zealand
New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

You see New Zealand and you never have them as tournament favourites. But they always tend to punch above their weight. They tend to make their presence felt all the time but they go about that in a disciplined and an unnoticeable manner. You hardly notice them but they’ll be right up there, competing with the best.

The Kiwis are termed as the ‘nice guys’ of world cricket. You never see them misbehaving or swearing or having a go at the opposition. Their attitude is always something that everyone looks up to. Take the World Cup final for instance. New Zealand didn’t lose the title-clash. Neither in the 50 overs nor in the Super Over.

But the way they carried themselves was exemplary. The Blackcaps even won the MCC Spirit of Cricket award of the year 2019 for the way they played and conducted themselves in the 2019 World Cup final.

8. England – Attack, attack and attack

England
England. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The horrid 2015 World Cup where they were knocked out in the group stages was a blessing in disguise for the England team. It changed the way they looked at how to go about things, especially in white-ball cricket. They shunned their old approach and axed a few players and came out with a revolutionised approach.

In white-ball cricket, England realised they have to put up big totals on the board and 300 became the new par. Hence, they came out all guns blazing, attacking all the way through. In fact, they kept setting the bar and standard post the 2015 World Cup.

Even in Test cricket, it became a standard style of play. Their bowlers went out on the attack while the batsmen’s second line of defence was also attacking and putting the pressure back on the bowlers. Thus, it’s become a norm for England and it’s the aggressive brand of cricket they play that defines them. They are always on the attack.

9. Australia – Be ruthless

Australia
Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Australia have been one of the most dominant teams in the history of the game. Season after season, year after year, decade after decade, they have built a legacy of going for the kill all the time. They hardly hold back and are always in the face of the opposition.

There was a time in 2018-19 when there was a sudden change with the bans of Steve Smith and David Warner. However, normal services seem to have resumed for the Aussies. While the sledging and in the face attitude has been toned down slightly, the ruthlessness hasn’t.

Australia are one team that will win by big margins. You take the recent home summer or even the T20Is against South Africa, all the wins are by huge margins and have been won in dominant fashion. Hence, Australia might follow the mantra of being ruthless and going for the kill all the time.

10. India – To hell with the pitch and conditions

India
India. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Over the last few years, India have been very good across formats in international cricket. They are constantly making it to the knockouts of the ICC events and in fact, the last time they couldn’t reach semi-finals of an ICC tournament was back in the 2012 World T20. Moreover, they’ve largely been doing well even in bilaterals.

Test cricket has been a big upswing for them. They are currently ranked No. 1 in the ICC Test rankings. They’ve held the top spot for more than 3 and a half years now. Moreover, they’ve had a bit of success overseas as well. The Virat Kohli-led side has won Test series’ in Australia, Sri Lanka and West Indies and have competed hard in England and South Africa as well.

One of their mantras has been to take the pitch out of the equation. India are striving to do well in all conditions and they have the team to do so as well. They don’t want the pitch and conditions to be a big factor. Hence, head coach Ravi Shastri had once said, “Bhaad me gaya pitch [To hell with the pitch]” and the Indian team tries to resonate on this.

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