The celebration of the coach Rahul Dravid said it all. Exactly 17 years ago, with Dravid as the captain of the Indian team, India was sent packing in the first round itself which included a loss to a weak Bangladesh team. The entire world saw tears flowing from the eyes of the captain. It was a moment that weakened the hearts of every Indian because Dravid was a much liked cricketer. It was really tough to see but that is how the game moves. Dravid was a crestfallen cricketer on that day. He may not have imagined that he will get a chance to rewrite his own experience 17 years down the line. That is exactly what happened. The World Cup win will remain a special moment in Dravid’s career. He wasn’t part of any of the Indian team that won any of the World Cup.
At the end of a not so successful tenure as coach, more of that in another article, he finally managed to be a part of the winning World Cup team. It was Kohli who handed over the trophy to Dravid and what happened after that was a revelation for all of us. Dravid belted out a fierce and a powerful roar that the tigers and lions would be proud of. The frustration that had built up inside him, found a way to be let out. It was a moment that revealed what it meant to win a World Cup not just for Dravid but for the entire team who have often come too close to being pipped at the last minute.
Making amends for the ODI World Cup
7 months ago, the nation wore a dejected look after having lost a golden opportunity to win the ODI World Cup despite being the best team in the league phase. Now, they got an opportunity to make amends which the team did admirably. Ofcourse, there is a school of thought that an ODI World Cup win has a sort of fulfilment that a T20 World Cup win does not. Perhaps because T20 finishes in a little more than 3 hours whereas the ODI takes more than 8 hours and as such is much more satisfying. Nevertheless, a World Cup is a World Cup. For now, India can claim that they are the World Champions. It has been a remarkable 12 months for India having reached the final in all the 3 World events. The WTC final, the ODI Final and now, the T20 final. It is exceptionally incredible consistency.
In the process, India also became the first team to win a T20 World Cup without losing a single game. Australia used to boast of such performances when they went more than 2 ODI World Cups without losing a single game. Can India match that performance? Only time can tell. For now, let us all bask in the glory of the win.
A familiar pattern followed
If one looks closer, a familiar pattern followed in the World Cup. Just like how India went into a nothing mood in the ODI World Cup, they threatened to do the same here as well. If we have to compare the two finals, India started briskly in both the game with Rohit playing shots only he could and this time, Kohli playing freely. Then, 3 quick wickets applies brakes on the scoring and the scorecard remained standstill throughout the innings. At the ODI World Cup, Kohli remained strokeless for a large part in the middle overs. To make matters worse, he was joined by KL Rahul whose feet were glued to the crease.
To exacerbate, the innings was made worse by Jadeja’s innings without any purpose. As a result, for more than 20 overs, not a single boundary was hit. It proved to be the difference between posting more than 300 and ending up with less than 250.
Much the same could be said for the T20 finals too. Again, Kohli went into his shell but this time, it wasn’t Rahul at the other end. It was Axar Patel who played an innings that he will remember for the rest of his life. It was brilliant batting. He was aware that Kohli was stagnating and that the onus was on him to increase the scoring rate. A strike rate of 156 and a personal score of 47 ensured that the middle overs were not wasted in mindless slugfest. It eased the pressure on Kohli. It was Axar’s innings that proved to be the difference between an inadequate 140+ to a par score. The fact that he is at ease at number 5 is a bonus for the team. It gives a great flexibility in choosing the correct players.
Surya’s catch
This was easily the catch of the tournament. Nowadays, YouTube is full of such catches throughout the world but what makes this catch outstanding was the sheer presence of mind on the part of Surya. With 16 runs required of 6 balls, the pressure was on both the sides. One hit for a six, South Africa would have won easily. A wicket, it was advantage India. The margin was exceptionally thin. Under such circumstances, Surya had a great presence of mind. First of all, to run all the way from wide long-on to long-on was laudable. He stretched himself to catch the ball and threw it in the air only get his balance correct and catch it again.
99 out of 100 times, fielders would have been satisfied with keeping the ball in play. It would have been perfectly alright for Surya to just throw the ball in and keep it in play so that a boundary was saved and the batsmen kept to a couple of runs. He didn’t think like that. He must have thought that the wicket of David Miller at that stage meant curtains for South Africa and didn’t want to let go of the opportunity. It showed great cricketing intellect.
Hardik Pandya & Bumrah
The two stalwarts of the win. Bumrah played with the mind of the batsmen to such an extent that the opponents were not playing the ball but were playing the bowler. You could see from the fact of Marco Jansen who expected to get out anytime. Bumrah should have been both the player of the game and the player of the tournament. Such was his impact.
Hardik Pandya threw away months of frustration aside and contributed in the major victory. His wicket of Klassen was crucial at that moment.
Wrapping up the World Cup win
It wasn’t all satisfying for India. There were a couple of sore spots. Pant is not an international number 3. He is a brilliant Test cricketer but in white-ball, he has been found wanting. Something similar to Sehwag. As for Dube, if the designation number 5 cannot walk in inside the initial 6 overs, it leaves a lot to be desired about that player. It could be construed as strategic thinking but I am certain that Axar Patel was sent ahead of Dube because of Dube’s susceptibility to pace.
Other blogs about India T20
https://icricketcritique.com/indian-openers-for-world-t20/
https://icricketcritique.com/indian-team-for-world-t20/