The World Cup That Is
Before we get going with the "The World Cup That Is", meaning the World Cup of 2015, let us spend a word or two on "The World Cup That Were". To be honest with everybody, Cricket was never meant to be a Soccer, or a Tennis, or a Basketball. It was not designed to be a super-physical game in that sense. It was, however, meant to be classical. It was meant to be gentlemanly, perhaps not manly. It was perfectly alright to remain open-ended, for, the longest test match was played between March 3 to March 14 (South Africa Vs England, Durban 1939). Things started to turn anyway, but the flip of page took a lot of time. If there was any one thing that made the game more exciting than ever before, it was the introduction of 60 over One Day format. It was the good old seventies. It was a period when the youth had started to get more vibrant, across the globe. The islands of the Carribean and the islands of the Oceania had similar rhythms in their hearts. A rebel or two were in the making, the Lillees, the Marshalls, the Gooches, the Gavaskars all contributed with an act or two to get going with a World Cup.
Curtains fell, curtains were lifted. Decades came, decades went. Players were born, players were lost, players retired, players got tired - the phenomenon called the World Cup, continued to maintain its charm. A timid governing body, by the name International Cricket Council, meeting at times near a cozy, tiny place, somewhere on the outskirts of London, started to gather momentum with each passing year. With that, the magnitude of the World Cup also enlarged - from a semi-permanent seat in England, it moved to Asia, then to Oceania, back to the Queen's own land, then far west to the island of entertainment, finally to Oceania via the subcontinent.
This year's World Cup is special in many ways. In essence, it is one that needs to prove a few things and set a few other things right. First, the defending champions need to prove that they are one of the finest sides in the world. Next, the associate members need to prove that the word "minnows" should be dropped off them. They should be involved in a "match" and not in a "mismatch". Then, with several latest technological advances, umpiring and decisions must be spot on. Finally, the 50 over format must remain relevant, its smaller brother, the 20-20, is just shoulder sniffing!
The games so far have lived up, on more than one occasion, to a good standard. India, the reigning champions, looks all set to double their credibility. The other teams in the Semi Finals look quite strong; there is hardly a difference of an inch or two. The weaker teams in the competition have played to their potential. They have all played well, they have not looked like Alices in Australia-NewZealand.
Batting has transformed big time! Woaao! What improvisations! What masculinity! What strength! The batters, from Chris Gayle to Rohit to DeVilliers to Sangakkara to the Afghans to the likes of Brendon Taylor and Guptill - they all know how to hit. They know where exactly to hit and when to hit and why to hit. But alas! The bowling, to me, has not lived up. I still remember the days of the contest. I recall a leading daily quoting "Zip zap zoom, and the faster men boom!" to describe the might of bowlers and the plight of batters in 2003 World Cup. A bit of variation, a nipping cutter, a ferocious swing, a gentle slower, or a dipping yorker - I miss those. I do not know if all of us miss, but I strongly feel that in order to bite the nails, you need a close fight. A ball struck into the crowd erupts joy, but to work out a single and keep working on making the scoreboard tick, and negotiating a damaging bounce, are equally more joyous. For those of us that have missed those moments, I tell you : Those are extraordinary moments. One sided results can kill any game or any format of a game - we need the organizers to think about this.
Time to wind up. But before that, a word or two on captaincy. We are very lucky to be part of an era that produced a captain like Dhoni. His grace, his calm, his approach, his stewardship is all one of its kind. Clarke, McCullum, and DeVilliers are also good, but my money is on Dhoni and his boys. Any team that defeats India from here on will cause an upset and that means that India is the clear favorite. Leaving comments - an Umpire at this level of the game should be consistent. He may be wrong; but then, he should be consistently wrong.
Curtains fell, curtains were lifted. Decades came, decades went. Players were born, players were lost, players retired, players got tired - the phenomenon called the World Cup, continued to maintain its charm. A timid governing body, by the name International Cricket Council, meeting at times near a cozy, tiny place, somewhere on the outskirts of London, started to gather momentum with each passing year. With that, the magnitude of the World Cup also enlarged - from a semi-permanent seat in England, it moved to Asia, then to Oceania, back to the Queen's own land, then far west to the island of entertainment, finally to Oceania via the subcontinent.
This year's World Cup is special in many ways. In essence, it is one that needs to prove a few things and set a few other things right. First, the defending champions need to prove that they are one of the finest sides in the world. Next, the associate members need to prove that the word "minnows" should be dropped off them. They should be involved in a "match" and not in a "mismatch". Then, with several latest technological advances, umpiring and decisions must be spot on. Finally, the 50 over format must remain relevant, its smaller brother, the 20-20, is just shoulder sniffing!
The games so far have lived up, on more than one occasion, to a good standard. India, the reigning champions, looks all set to double their credibility. The other teams in the Semi Finals look quite strong; there is hardly a difference of an inch or two. The weaker teams in the competition have played to their potential. They have all played well, they have not looked like Alices in Australia-NewZealand.
Batting has transformed big time! Woaao! What improvisations! What masculinity! What strength! The batters, from Chris Gayle to Rohit to DeVilliers to Sangakkara to the Afghans to the likes of Brendon Taylor and Guptill - they all know how to hit. They know where exactly to hit and when to hit and why to hit. But alas! The bowling, to me, has not lived up. I still remember the days of the contest. I recall a leading daily quoting "Zip zap zoom, and the faster men boom!" to describe the might of bowlers and the plight of batters in 2003 World Cup. A bit of variation, a nipping cutter, a ferocious swing, a gentle slower, or a dipping yorker - I miss those. I do not know if all of us miss, but I strongly feel that in order to bite the nails, you need a close fight. A ball struck into the crowd erupts joy, but to work out a single and keep working on making the scoreboard tick, and negotiating a damaging bounce, are equally more joyous. For those of us that have missed those moments, I tell you : Those are extraordinary moments. One sided results can kill any game or any format of a game - we need the organizers to think about this.
Time to wind up. But before that, a word or two on captaincy. We are very lucky to be part of an era that produced a captain like Dhoni. His grace, his calm, his approach, his stewardship is all one of its kind. Clarke, McCullum, and DeVilliers are also good, but my money is on Dhoni and his boys. Any team that defeats India from here on will cause an upset and that means that India is the clear favorite. Leaving comments - an Umpire at this level of the game should be consistent. He may be wrong; but then, he should be consistently wrong.
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