SO LONG, FAREWELL... AUF WIEDERSEHEN GOODBYE...

MS Dhoni's run out signaled India's exit once for all
Image Courtesy - abc.net.au

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies... The long held adage from Shawshank Redemption kept me going until the time... the time, when the red-light flickered from the bails.. MS Dhoni was run-out! That was the end, the final rites, call it whatever you want...

If anyone had told me before the start that India would be knocked out of the World Cup on the penultimate match of the tournament, fighting for a place for the finals, I would have accepted it, although reluctantly and probably also wonder if it was possible considering the way we bowled and batted at times leading up to the tournament. Since then, winning seven matches in a trot has been the reason why most Indian fans felt and mostly hoped for achieving the glory yet again by defeating the two best teams in the tournament - Australia and New Zealand.

Today's match, right from the start was all about hope, the great Indian hope. The Indian team knew this Australian team, all the Indian fans knew this Australian team and from what we have seen from these endless summer months of playing cricket in Australia, team India had to be at their best, if not more to reach the finals. They met a better side on the day and like most days with Australia in the recent past, the better side (Australia) won.

Is this disappointing? Yes, it is. A loss to a team you support is always a tough pill to swallow. That's about it. Losing the semi-finals in 1987 was a surprise, the 1992 campaign was a disaster, the 1996 campaign ended in tears, shame and what not; the 1999 tournament was a touch and go; the 2003 World Cup went down to the wire; the 2007 World Cup was embarrassing and we were the World Champions in 2011. Yes, today's loss took away the tag of 'world champions'. This year, the conditions were different, something Indians often found wanting, be it any form of the game and yet they managed to stretch till the last four.

   

IT WAS HOPE ALL THE WAY

India started well.. the bowlers kept the in-form Australia batsmen in check for the ten overs. When the bowling was tested and threatened to concede well in excess of 350, the bowlers came back well, taking wickets, restricting the Aussies to 328, the highest they conceded this tournament.

This was the semi-final, and there was no better occasion to finally win a match against the home team. The openers started well, and did not lose those early wickets in those 10 overs. Everything seemed fine, Indians were well on their way chasing those runs, and against the run of play the first wicket fell... and soon Virat Kohli left. Rohit Sharma looked set, pulls Mitchell Johnson for a six, the chase is underway in spite of those two hiccups, the very next ball, he is out. And since then, the run chase was all about hope. After struggling to find boundaries, Raina perished and in came the last hope. 

I don't believe in miracles - but this guy could perform some, the Indian cricketing version of Andy Dufresne - our captain cool, M S Dhoni. I was hoping, in his mind he would plan just the way Andy did and in the end, break the shackles Indians were under right since the time they arrived in Australia. A win today would have felt like that prison break! He did that four years ago, was I expecting too much? Is it just too much to ask from an individual in a team sport?

He tried his best to take it to the last minute, he held on, even when asking rate was 15 per over. I was hoping, he would do it.. though with each ball it seemed unrealistic. And his run-out signaled India's exit once for all. Team India would lose their first match of the tournament and with it, the hopes of a successive titles ended. Post analysis can be made - but it will not alter the result. We gotta live with the fact of Australia being a much better team than India and Indians did not go out without a fight (they fought for a good part of 80 overs).

On this note, the Indian team will finally depart Australia after having spent close to four months playing all-forms of cricket down under. The end was not sudden, it wasn't anti-climax as deep down everyone knew it was as best as they could have played.

Now.. it's time for the finals, and this Sunday, I will be hoping Kiwis would end up winning their maiden World Cup trophy. A new day, a new hope. 

BEYOND THE 10 COUNTRIES - CRICKET AND THE WORLD CUP

World Cup and the lesser known teams...how can they be separated? 

The year 2002 was the first time football World Cup was staged in Asia - and the event had finally reached the largest continent seventy years after the inception of this premier tournament. France, the defending champions of 1998, the European champions of 2000 was still the best team to beat and a favourite to retain the title. Senegal defeated France, yes it was a freakish goal by Diop - but that goal was enough to write a script for a team that was unheard of, in the world stage. It was the World Cup and there is something else that brings in the best of the lesser known teams. France then drew with Uruguay, lost by two goals to Denmark and as a result went out of the tournament without scoring a goal. This is just one such story and there are many such tales of World Cup and not just in football.

Football is popular for a reason; and if not for their global outlook and appeal, the game would not have succeeded and tasted fame in the modern era. Cricket cannot be compared to football - but is it wrong in trying to have the global appeal and look to emulate the father of all sports? No one likes to watch a strong team strangle a weak opponent on a daily basis and rarely people turn up to watch two minnows competing against each other. So what is the solution? Having cricket world cup reduced to just a test-playing nations affair is not the way, and irrespective of the number of teams, there will be minnows even in the big league, because ratings are what that counts - the number one, the chasers, race for avoiding the last place and so on.

THE GUARDIANS OF THE GAME

What is the role of the International Federation and whom do they report to? Is it the commercial partners, the association members, the fans or a fruitful combination of all? People and fans turn up to watch the innumerable bilateral series, countless ODI's and T20's. But that does not drive the sport globally if it does not travel beyond the boundaries. What does is that a relative, a friend or a group of people getting together in Afghanistan, Scotland, Ireland, Kenya, Canada, Bermuda, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Netherlands, UAE and many more from the Associate and Affiliate countries, because it is the World Cup! - a place where underdogs can dream of achieving glory just like many such stories we have in different sports. Global appeal is what cricket seriously aspires, then World Cup is the stage to showcase it, for there are no other words than World Cup which generates attention and more the countries, merrier it is.

Favourites winning is logical, predictable and worthy - but just as in life, in sports too all we seek are stories that are never being told before, something fresh, unique and tales that evoke interest. Beyond the hopes, against the odds, the victory over the might is what makes the headlines. In not providing such a opportunity, one needs to re-look at the term 'international' and 'world cup' as not having more teams is a recipe for stagnancy.

WILL COMMERCIAL PARTNERS BE UP TO THIS?

What are the roles played by the commercial partners who fund the game? I have never heard a business house complain if their name and product reached out to many places across the world. Ask Pepsi, what's their challenge is? Sixteen teams or even thirty two teams for a 50-day event is possible and will be the way to go. Thirty two teams divided into eight groups and then the knock out begins. What are we afraid of? If big teams do not make it past the first round? or will they lose in the round of sixteen? Should there a minimum number of matches guaranteed to evoke interest levels till the dusk of the tournament? or do you want to watch series of do or die contests? For a greater reach, few one-sided games can be excused and if we all seek only for the master teams, what will happen those apprentices who have ambitions to be a master one day or defeat them on a given day? Have we come so far ahead that, we have forgotten how we got here in the first place?

WHAT IS LIFE DEVOID OF SURPRISES

Familiarity breeds contempt and do I need to say more? The suspense of not knowing your opponent is what brings in the element of drama, the awe-inspiring moments, the breathtaking scenarios, the theatrics, the elite performers irrespective of their background till the time when winners takes all.

Whoever it is who needs to make decisions for the future of the World Cup, take a good look at the outside world, beyond the four walls where the decision would probably be made; understand the value of legacy and embrace the power in you, the ability to take this sport as it has been envisioned.

To be the best, you gotta be in the league of the best! And having a World Cup with less teams will only have limited reach and a very clouded future.