(Appeared in Playing11.com)
But while nine sets of brothers set out to fulfill that dream, in the end only six remained.
The journey proved too strenuous for one, another lost his special powers along the way and the third was just plain unlucky.
While Darren and Dwayne Bravo will be at the World Cup representing West Indies, Ireland will have Kevin and Niall O’Brien. The Kiwis will be rooting for Nathan and Brendon McCullum, whereas Pakistan’s dynamic duo of Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal will campaign together. Kenya will have two sets of brothers fighting for them: Collins and David Obuya, and the lucky trio of Nehemiah Odhiambo, James Ngoche and Shem Ngoche.
But this is not just the story of those who have made it. It’s also about the brothers who have failed to make it together. They could only watch as their dream to emulate Steve and Mark Waugh was dismantled.
These tragic duos were the Husseys of Australia (David and Michael), the Pathans of India (Yusuf and Irfan) and the Protea pair of Albie and Morne Morkel. While Michael was left out of the 2011 World Cup mix due to injury, it was lack of form and injuries that saw Irfan miss the train and Albie just didn’t fit into the plans for the South African squad.
The story of two brothers playing together has always tugged at the cricket lovers’ heart strings, and so the explosion of ‘brothers-in-arms’ this year is overwhelming.
Therefore, it’s difficult to sit in judgement over which of the set of brothers will emerge triumphant.
My bet is a toss between the talented Kiwi duo and the brothers from Pakistan. But the Bravos with their all-round abilities should be forces to reckon with too.
Here comes the difficult, and the most exciting part— waiting to see which set of brothers will work as a team to script a fairytale for their side.
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