Winning Bizness Sports Desk

Another day, another world cup final and the same result—a big defeat. In October-November this year, India hosted the 13th edition of the 50-overs format world cup and was widely expected to win the trophy. The team led by Rohit Sharma played exceptionally well during the course of the tournament and was rated the best team on view unanimously by experts.

Unfortunately, after winning 10 games in a row, the team capitulated tamely in the final—to the never-say-die Australians.

Call it an off-day or the law of averages catching up with the team or the Australians playing out of their skins or that India’s and the world’s best spinner Ravichandran Ashwin not being selected to play on a pitch that suited spin—the analysts, former cricketers, cricket fans and the team’s management will ponder over the reasons for the defeat for a long time to come.

What is clear, however, is that for some inexplicable reason, India has not been able to win any ICC tournament since 2013 when it last won a global cricket championship—the Champions trophy. India could not defend the world cup title won in 2011 when it lost in the semi-final in 2015 to Australia.

In 2019 too, India was one of the best teams on view. The team won seven out of its nine matches and finished on top of the table with 15 points. One match (against New Zealand) ended in a no-result but against the same opponent in the semi-final, India lost.

This time India ended its semi-final jinx and progressed to the final where it lost to Australia who were crowned world champions for the sixth time. Australia has won the world cup in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015 before its sixth triumph this year.

India, a two-time world champion in the 50-overs format, began with a big win against Australia and then sustained its brilliance right through the group stage winning nine out of nine games very convincingly indeed.

Other countries to have won the world cup are the West Indies and India twice, the former in the first two world cups (1975, 1979) and India in 1983 and 2011. Pakistan in 1992, Sri Lanka in 1996 and England in 2019 are the other teams to have won the world cup.

A quick look at the performances of the so-called big teams will reveal that apart from India, most of the other teams began either slowly such as Australia (which began the tournament with two losses) or New Zealand which stuttered in the middle-stages of the tournament before making it to the last four. Pakistan lost four matches in a row and five overall to crash out of the tournament. The Asian powerhouse had interestingly started the tournament as one of the favourites to at least enter the semi-finals if not win the trophy.

England, the defending champion, was never in it. With losses even to Tier II teams such as Sri Lanka (who themselves fared very poorly) and Afghanistan, England had to change its objective towards the end of the tournament.

With no chance to qualify for the semi-finals, England was instead forced to concentrate on qualifying for the Champions Trophy to be held in 2025. It was a great fall indeed for the defending champions and one of the top favourites to lift the title.

India, a two-time world champion in the 50-overs format, began with a big win against Australia and then sustained its brilliance right through the group stage winning nine out of nine games very convincingly indeed.

The host nation’s tenth victory on the trot in the semi-final against New Zealand was equally convincing and the team entered the final as the red-hot favourite to win the world cup. It would not be incorrect to say that most of the matches were one-sided in India’s favour. However, in the match that mattered, things did not go according to the Indians’ wishes and they were forced to taste defeat. It will be another four-years before India can bid for the 50-overs world cup again.

South Africa lost only two games in the league stage—one to India and the other to the Netherlands. It lost to emerging team the Netherlands batting second which led to the feeling that the best way to defeat the South Africans was to bat first (on winning the toss) and make them chase a target.

This feeling got further reinforced when the Proteas just managed to scrape through against a charged-up Pakistan, winning that game by just one wicket. It was a very tough match and could have gone either way but the South Africans won that match and this virtually guaranteed them a spot in the semi-finals.

Afghanistan was the revelation of the world cup and at one stage it was very much in contention for a semi-final spot. It played eye-catching cricket and defeated giants such as Pakistan and Engand.

New Zealand’s initial performances mirrored that of India and just when it looked like it would brush aside all opposition on its way to the semi-finals, it lost four matches—to India, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa.

However, despite its four losses, its massive wins in the initial stage and its victory against Sri Lanka at the end ensured its five wins combined with its high net run rate (0.743) would guarantee it an entry into the semi-finals.

A team that disappointed terribly was Pakistan; the disappointment was all the more palpable because the team was rated as a favourite to at least enter the semi-finals if not the final itself. Its bowling, prior to the commencement of the tournament, was touted by the Pakistanis as the best in the world. But as it turned out, the Pakistani bowlers, especially the fast bowlers let the team down.

Its spinners too proved ineffective and with Pakistan not giving Abrar Ahmed, the country’s best spinner a spot in the team, the opposition batters had it easy. Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and England all scored in excess of 300 runs with New Zealand scoring 401 runs (though Pakistan won this rain-affected game through the Duckworth-Lewis method). If further evidence of Pakistan’s lacklustre bowling is needed, then the fact that Pakistani bowlers could not defend their 282-7 score against Afghanistan must be highlighted.

The Afghans scored 286 runs for the loss of just two wickets, which drew unwanted attention to the lack of bite in the Pakistani bowling. In its match against India, Pakistan scored 191 runs batting first in 42.5 overs which India hunted down in just 30.3-overs, scoring 192 for the loss of just three wickets.

Pakistani batters too let their side down. Fakhar Zaman played a couple of electrifying knocks towards the end but these came too late to be of any use to Pakistan. Besides, its over-dependence on just two batters—Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan—coupled with its inability to adapt to the demands of the modern game proved fatal.

Afghanistan was the revelation of the world cup and at one stage it was very much in contention for a semi-final spot. It played eye-catching cricket and defeated giants such as Pakistan and Engand. The Afghans almost managed to put it across the Australians and had them on the brink of defeat at 91-7 before Glenn Maxwell played the knock of his life (201 not out) to take Australia over the line. A million hearts were broken when the Afghans exited the tournament.

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Netherlands did not do much though it must be said that the Netherlands players played spirited cricket and won several hearts. It was unfortunate that the two Asian powerhouses—Bangladesh and Sri Lanka—looked totally out of their depth throughout the tournament.

The Australians ultimately proved to be deserving winners. They exhibited a never-say-die spirit and their players delivered when it mattered the most. Barring Steve Smith who was woefully out of form, most of the others performed well at one point or another during the tournament.

The 50-overs world cup is over and the focus now shifts to the T20 world cup to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States in June next year.

A special mention must be made of Travis Head for whom no praise can be too high. The southpaw became the first player to score two hundreds in two different ICC finals.

He followed his 163 runs in the World Test Championship final against India with a superb 137 in the world cup final. Head also became only the fourth player to win the Player-of-the-Match award in the both the semi-final and final in the same ODI world cup.

A point to be highlighted here is that in the semi-final against South Africa, Head scored 62 runs besides snaring two wickets for 21 runs.

In conclusion, it must be said that while India played scintillating cricket right till the final, at the moment it mattered, the team failed to step up. A question that has been raised is whether Ravichandran Ashwin should have been included in the playing eleven on a pitch that favoured spin.

The 50-overs world cup is over and the focus now shifts to the T20 world cup to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States in June 2024.

India has won the T20 world cup only once—the inaugural tournament in 2007. The T20 world cup offers India a very good chance to improve its record in this format by winning the trophy for the second time. A win here will help India wipe off the image it is rapidly acquiring as a `choker’, especially on big match occasions.