At the start of the ICC World Cup, Indian cricket fans were
extremely skeptical of India’s
world cup chances as they had been badly thrashed by Australia in
the Test and One Day series. We knew that it would be virtually impossible back
then and most of us were happy when we thrashed Pakistan in the first match. But
then Team India did a
complete U-Turn à la Modi Sarkar and started winning one match after another –
including against strong cricketing teams like South
Africa and the West Indies.
And then they raised the hopes of even the non-cricket lovers and it was as if
were at war against the other nations. Yes, many people who told me that they
would not be following the cricket world cup as they hated the game watched the
entire semi-final in which Australia
trashed us badly.
These folks declared that Virat Kohli was the villain of the
piece for dropping a sitter and then making just 1 run in 13 deliveries. There
were dirty abuses hurled at Anuskha Sharma, the Bollywood Superstar, for just
being present at the ground. They didn’t bother to ask why Raina didn’t bowl in
the Australian innings, why Dhawan and Rohit Sharma frittered away a perfect
start, why Raina did not fire and why no batsman except Dhoni could stand up to
the might of the Aussie pace attack. Because they had their villains – Kohli
and Anushka, and they need not look any further.
Yes, the memory of these folks is short. It was Kohli who
had been the most consistent batsman in the 2011 world cup which we had won. It
was Kohli who had single-handledly taken on the Aussies the whole summer. It
was Kohli who has been declared our batsman in the past few years. The
expectations were high and Kohli failed to deliver. That was all. Let us not
blame Anushka for it. Mistakes happen, especially against the Aussies who have
probably the best side in the world and are playing with home advantages. They knew the
Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) well. They have the fastest bowlers in the world in
Starc and Johnson, who were deadly accurate as well. They had eight proper
batsmen in their lineup.
It was Deja Vous for India. It was a replay of that
awful 2003 world cup final. Australia
batted first the too and had made a few runs more, and our best batsman, Sachin
Tendulkar, got our cheaply at the start. The pressure got to both Indian teams in a big world cup match . And now it’s time to enjoy the finals with the Kiwis
possibly getting clobbered tomorrow. That’s my prediction. What is yours?
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