Celebrations of the Game We Love - Cricket

2015, 2 runs were needed from the remaining 16 overs, Henry bowling to Steven Smith, first ball, short and pulled by the wristy Smith. The winning runs coming rightly from Smith's bat who toyed all summer with the Indian bowling attack - Australia winning the World Cup by 7 wickets, New Zealand beaten by a better team in the all important final. Smith had been one of Australia's leading run getters, displaying character while anchoring a match winning partnership with the skipper Clarke. Well, Smith can score runs anywhere in the world.

2015 Champions

New Zealand, who won the toss elected to bat only to collapse at 183 after a dream run through the league stages and the quarterfinals in the 11th edition of the World Cup this year. The build up to the mega event witnessed star performances from Kiwi Martin Guptill’s (double ton, Two Toes), Boult’s amazing stint with the ball, McCullum's run feast(highest share of runs scored in boundaries, more than 80%), Gayle’s double ton against Zimbabwe.

New Zealand were undefeated entering the knock out stages while the only game which the Aussies lost was their only away game against the Kiwis in Hamilton. They say, Australians had the last laugh since they both lost only once to each other in the entire tournament but Australians held their nerves when it mattered most, the finals.

Back to the league stage, New Zealand vs. Australia was perhaps the most thrilling match of the tournament with the Kiwis winning the game with just 1 wicket left. Chasing only 152 to win, the Kiwis lost 9 of their wickets before finishing the chase only to lose to the Aussies in the finals down under. They say, keep your friends close and enemies closer. The Aussies just did that.

India’s campaign came to a crushing halt when they faced the tournament favourites, Australians in the semis at the SCG, what a tribute it was to the late Hughes. Australians came into the Semis with no great confidence as their last encounter with Pakistan was by no standards a cakewalk. Setting a meagre target of 213 batting first for the Aussies to chase , the shaky Pakistani batting line-up did not put any surprise except for a fighting 65 by their vintage batsmen Misbah-ul-Haq, but what later happened in the Australian chase is what many call as one of the greatest World Cup spells, such fierce was the fight between the bat and the ball, Watson and Wahab were the two lone warriors, had Watto not been dropped in deep square leg we never know the result might have been different.

Wahab's thundering spell put Watto to litmus test

South Africa winning a knock out game for the first time in their 5^th attempt after thrashing the Lankans in a one sided affair, was the highlight of the tournament. They were favourites to lift the trophy in what many a experts say was their best chance to win. Nonetheless, they surely won our hearts by the display of some great cricket before their encounter with another of the tournament biggie, the Kiwis, who have always punched way above their capacity. But for their sloppy fieldwork, indisciplined bowling when it mattred most, they would have booked a berth in the finals against the India-Australia winner.

pic says it all!

The build up to the semi-final was very unique and in a way emotional for the Kiwis, their captain, Brendon McCullum, had put it very aptly to the Kiwi fans world over, a signed invitation from the captain himself to come and cheer for their team.

McCullum in complete control

The Proteas, did however, not let the 1992 episode repeat, the rains tried its best though. Losing the crucial toss and being invited to bat first, the D/L method, now can be very well rechristened South Africa’s nemesis, made sure the Proteas were never sure of a target for the Kiwis, who again were in the form of their lives. However, Miller’s quick fire 65 from 40 deliveries after the rain interruption made sure they reached to daunting total of 281 in their allotted 42 overs, the revised total for the Kiwis was 298 from 42 overs, which was never going to be an easy task given they were against the best bowling attack.

A small controversy regarding the team selection for the match against New Zealand erupted when it was reported that Harun Logart wanted Philander, who was not mach fit, to be in the playing 11. This was quickly brushed off as a mere rumor with no substance as such.

The opening pair of Brendon McCullum and Kane Williomson provided the start needed by the New Zealand team, Bredo made sure the bowlers never settled and made most use of the power play, being aware that the external factors indeed be helping the Kiwi cause, just a little ahead of the required run rate was all that was now needed to win the match and book a berth in the mega event’s final. Grant Elliot played innings of his lifetime and helped his team won a semi final match for the first time in their 6^th attempt.

Another interesting contest to enter the knock out stages was between Bangladesh Cricket and English Cricket with the Bangla Tigers turning the heat against the English. The Englishmen were given a task to chase a competing total of 287 against a relatively weak bowling line-up, in the do or die match, the Englishmen fell really hard, all the years of Data Analysis, the high end tech savvy support staff could not save them from a humiliation of disastrous proportions. “We need to go back and study data” was the response from their head coach, Andy Flower.

Whereas their star ex-test player and the highest test run getter, Kevin Pietersen, reacted this way to the humiliating loss,

probably they should invent something as the ‘Return of the Ashes’, sarcasm. 

Ireland, like they have been known for the famous Irish beer, have been equally good at bullying biggies in the biggest of the tournaments, this time in the receiving end were the Caribbean cool players, the  West indies. The beat them in the very first game the West Indians played and beat them thumpingly. Back in the day, they beat Pakistan in Antigua in 2007, the loss was the beginning of what is the most mysterious case and unsolved story in Cricket, death of their incumbent coach Bob Wolmer, rest is history.

Also, in 2011, the Irish created history by chasing 326 against England in a nail biter game in Ahmedabad. This is the highest chase by any team in the history of World Cup.

Surely, this calls for a test status as they have exposure to some of the best Cricketing infrastructure, the County Cricket and play decent cricket, they can only go uphill from here and for that playing against the best in the business is what is required. But wait, the ICC has decided to keep the no. of countries competing in the next edition to 10. The game displayed by the Associate nations, entertained one and all, also it threw a strong message about the future of the game being very bright but the decision by the ICC to keep the competition to a 10 team affair definitely didn’t go well amongst the fans, especially ffrom these associate nations who really fight their heart out to appear and perform on this grandest of the stages in front of the world.

Irish captain, Kevin O’Brian displayed his emotions over the micro blogging site in a very raw show of emotions, seriously questioning ICC’s wisdom and its vision for the game keeping in mind the Associate countries.    

Something to cheer for the Indians was the fact that they rediscovered their fast bowling, the Achilles Heel for the Men in Blue over the years suddenly turned their most lethal weapons, going into the knock out stages, the Indian team had already created the record of claiming all 10 of the opposition wickets in 7 of their consecutive league games, that’s 70 wickets in 7 games, impressive.

Bangladesh, the under dogs in their game against India wanted a repeat of the 2007 World Cup where they ripped through the batting line up first and then chased the meagre total of 192 to knock India out of the tournament, perhaps the lowest point in the careers of our legends. It was sure that history won’t be repeating itself for the good. Starting slow into their setting of a target, the Indians were quite watchful in the initial 30 overs only to unleash the beast in the remaining 20 overs where Talent Sharma, took every Bangla bowler to the fence or even to the parking lot. A key controversial decision, that went in his favour, in his innings of 137 did help the Indian cause only to leave the Bangladeshis fuming or rather crying foul. The controversy did a diplomatic round too when the B’Deshi PM Sheikh Hasina jumped in the bandwagon and accused the umpiring faults for the loss of her team which ultimately resulted in their ouster.

Surely, talent is a gift but if left unchecked it is sure to result not in greatness, the Bangldeshis could have taken a feather or two from their South African counterparts, the humbleness with which the Proteas accepted the defeat was beyond any writ script. Surely there were emotions flying high as we saw moist eyes of the best player in the world AB, but they knew this was momentarily and the pain would pass on, the trophy can only be delayed but surely it is not to be denied. These were the emotions of the fans round the globe who were pained by the sight of a yet gain South African loss but also celebrated the Kiwi win.

Photo of Elliot and Styen

The Cricket World Cup is never complete without an India-Pakistan encounter, the 2015 edition was no a different story. The build up to the match was totally worth being part of celebrations with the legendary ‘Mauka Mauka’ videos literally breaking the internet. The Star Sports conceptualization of the winless record of Pakistan in World Cup matches against India is a marketing strategy that changes the game for the better, in this case pumping the iron fists of the fans from both sides of the border, to give everything they have to secure a win.

The match was also a milestone in the history of TV viewership for getting the highest viewership across the globe for a sporting event. Indians chose to bat after winning the toss, Kohli, the best Indian batsmen scored an impressive 100 against the arch rival in the biggest stage of them all. India set a target of 314 for the Pakistanis to chase, they lost their battle midway with team unknown to what was happening on the ground while half was already back to the pavilion.

Another of the World Cup enigma was the sad end to Brendon Taylor’s cricketing career, the prolific Zimbabwean batsmen bid adieu to international cricket at a ripe age of just 29 to join a county club. The crisis in his home country, political instability, and gigantic levels of corruption had led to a financially plagued Zimbabwean Cricket Board, who were not even in a position to finance Cricket across Zimbabwe, let alone paying them at par with their international counterparts.

Brendon Taylor, the 4^th highest run getter after the league stages with an impressive 133 against the Indians was reportedly paid $ 250 for the entire tournament, compare that with the paycheck of an Aussie player getting about $ 5,000 per match or an Indian star getting into millions for just being into the squad, peanuts! 

The situation was never under control of the Board, there is a famous and a true story doing rounds in the social media as to how the players have to stay back in the stadium after the game is over, no matter if they lose or win, to have food, offered by the gymkhana. Such is the sorry state the game is in a country which produced greats like the Flower Brothers, Heath Streak. Interestingly, this is the story behind many successful international players calling it quits after a promising start to their international career. Sports can play a major role in changing the sad state the country is in, and hence, it is really important as to how this is handled by the ICC and other relevant/concerned parties. The story in near future, looks bleak tough.

This World Cup also marked the end of the stellar careers of legends like Sangakkara, Mahela, Clarke, Vettori, Mills, Misbah. There is a lot of raw talent waiting to replace these greats but filling the void they will leave back is what is to be seen. Handling the pressure with utmost grace, being humble even in the defeat, accepting the opposition with a smile made these players legends in their game. Continuing that would not be easy, but hey, the game moves on.

What are the most interesting facts about the world cup 2015?

This is the first world cup after 1987, where both Sachin and Miandad are not participating.

10 things to look out for in the World Cup.

1)      Australia clinical in their approach, Smith the run machine, Mitchel Starc pinning down every batsmen with his toe crushing Yorkers and amongst the best fielding side made the perfec recipe for the World Cup win.

2)      India, taking all 80 wickets from the 8 games before the semis, creating a World Cup record in the process. 70% of the tickets being bought by Indian fans for the semifinal match against Australia which of course was not enough to derail the Aussies.

3)      New Zealand for the first time reaching into the finals and South Africa winning a knock out game for the first time.

4)      Afghanistan winning their first ever world cup game against Scotland who still are winless in their campaign. What scenes they were, Zadran going helter-skelter.

5)      Scotland batsmen became the first from the Associate nations to score a World Cup 150.

6)      Best bowling stats, figures, averages, strike rate etc.

7)       Only the 2^nd time and on consecutive occasions, the home countries played in the finals for the title shot. In 2011, the final was played between India and Sri Lanka with India successfully chasing to be crowned as the World Cup champions. 

8)      Afghanistan has now requested India to book one of their grounds as home reserve for games involving their country. India should listen to the request, I suggest.

Also some of the wittiest pieces of commentary should be part of the vault for some light fun.

Rahul Dravid trolling former English skipper Nasser Hussain, finals of 2019 World Cup between Scotland and Ireland.

This edition was also special because of the following reasons, LED Stumps which glowed when the bails are lifted, but then there were strange scenes happening, Misbah-ul-Haq in the match against Australia in the quarter finals had his heart in mouth when the ball just brushed the stumps and actually didn’t dislodge the bails.

The Bangladeshi inclusion of Robel Hussain in their squad was also mired by controversies as he was accused of sexual assault before the tournament had started, the case was brushed under the carped to arrange for his travel down under.

Australians, were determined to win the trophy and pay their tribute to their fallen mate, the late Philip Hughes.

UAE’s Swapnil Patil, the wicket keeper batsman, hails from Mumbai and had played alongside Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane.