The Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad was decked for the occasion. Close to a lakh cricket lovers were in attendance, the biggest for a cricket match and over a billion others in all parts of India and abroad were glued to the TV sets or internet streaming, waiting for that one big moment that alas was not to come. With ten consecutive wins in the league phase and semi-final, India was considered an overwhelming favourite for the title. But as it happened, the drama ended in an anti-climax. Australia shocked India with a kind of professional touch the team is famous for, to earn its sixth title in the competition. As for the rest, there lay shattered all dreams of the Indian players and supporters! What a moment it turned out to be! The hunter had become the hunted! The glorious uncertainties which used to be the way cricket had always been described could not have had a better example of that adage.
On paper who would have thought that this Indian team would face an insurmountable hurdle enroute to a grand finish? Right from the start, if there is one thing that stood out, it would be the balance that the team had shown, be it in batting, bowling, or even fielding. Everything had looked adequate for the big occasion. A sample was the way India had beaten Australia in the initial league stage (by the same margin of six wickets, which Australia returned in the final). In the semi-final too against New Zealand after India had raised an imposing total. Even though Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell, with a rollicking stand almost laid out a winning path for the visitors, Indian bowlers were able to affect the check-in time and ensured nothing untoward happened to its impressive run in the competition. But the final proved a different cup of tea altogether.
Adversity and setbacks galvanise the side into a powerful unit, that is Australia traditionally. Cummin’s men showed that in ample measure, starting with the fielding in the final. The way runs were stopped with amazing dives and runs, not to speak of the astounding catching, the best being Travis Head’s diving effort to send the big-hitting Rohit Sharma back to the pavilion, Australia had come to the summit clash prepared on all fronts. Indeed, the bowling also showed an added sharpness not to speak of the wiles that Starc and Hazelwood are known for. The free-flowing Indians found themselves in a static situation for the most part. That they were also under pressure was unmistakable. None displayed that more than Shubman Gill, who gave a loud shriek of anguish when he doled out a catch to start the Indian reverse.
Yes, the most prolific batter of this edition, Virat Kohli and Rahul, did their bit with half-centuries, but the inability to go for the big hits baulked their enterprise and in due course their downfall. In the end, a modest target was all that India could raise much to the dismay of the vast gathering who had come from far and near to witness a spectacle. If the bowlers were expected to make amends, then they did promise, both Bumrah and Shami, the two most successful bowlers, but Head and Marnus Labuschagne settled. To think this southpaw Head, who just before the World Cup had a sling on after fracturing his arm, was to turn the hero of the final with a fighting and stroke-filled century! There lay the Australian resilience and the hunger for success. Only a few days earlier, Glenn Maxwell had shown that quality in big measure with his fighting double hundred, a historic match-winning effort with dehydration cramping him down. That moment too had come when Australia was looking down with seven wickets gone against Afghanistan.
Longing for a title win, India had had a stellar run in the competition, but as they say, the one Big Day eluded them, thanks to an opposition which played like champions. It is this unexpected element that ultimately separates the winner and loser. But Rohit and his men should take heart from the fact that until then, they had provided hours of unalloyed joy and excitement to the lakhs of cricket lovers all over, not just in India. Where teams like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the regional neighbours and rivals failed, there was a side raising their stakes after each outing. They were brave hearts out and out. Just glancing through their performances should suffice to feel elated.
Kohli, for instance, had come away from his indifferent form to look at his scintillating best. Not only did he equal his hero Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI hundreds, but raised the record to 50 something, which has only magnified his iconic status as a sportsperson. Add to that Rohit’s gutsy batting as well as Shreyas Iyer’s brilliance, not to speak of the solidity displayed by Rahul, the Indian batting had a solid look for once. Shami was exceptional. Fortunate to get into the eleven with the exit of Hardik Pandya through injury, this Bengal bowler never lost the opportunity to prove why he can be so lethal. Seven wickets in that semi-final against New Zealand alone set him apart as he revelled in his art.
Yet for all this, the Indian team was not destined to lift the Cup, savour that grand moment in front of the multitudes who had packed the biggest cricket stadium in the world. Sadness engulfs us, but the positives are there for the future. Four years from now, many of the current lot may not be there in the team composition, but the work-display of this current side will go a long way in inspiring the up-and-coming generation to imbibe that there is more to class and perfection. There is also the need to make the best of the positives in hand.
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World Cup turns into a cup of woe
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21.11.2023
The Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad was decked for the occasion. Close to a lakh cricket lovers were in attendance, the biggest for a cricket match and over a billion others in all parts of India and abroad were glued to the TV sets or internet streaming, waiting for that one big moment that alas was not to come. With ten consecutive wins in the league phase and semi-final, India was considered an overwhelming favourite for the title. But as it happened, the drama ended in an anti-climax. Australia shocked India with a kind of professional touch the team is famous for, to earn its sixth title in the competition. As for the rest, there lay shattered all dreams of the Indian players and supporters! What a moment it turned out to be! The hunter had become the hunted! The glorious uncertainties which used to be the way cricket had always been described could not have had a better example of that adage.
On paper who would have thought that this Indian team would face an insurmountable hurdle enroute to a grand finish? Right from the start, if there is one thing that stood out, it would be the balance that the team had shown, be it in batting, bowling, or even fielding. Everything had looked adequate for the big occasion. A sample was the way India had beaten Australia in the initial league stage (by the same margin of six wickets, which Australia returned in the final). In the semi-final too against New Zealand after India had raised an imposing total. Even though Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell, with a........
© Mathrubhumi English
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