Go Easy On The Indians, Applaud The Aussies Instead

More than ten days after the conclusion of the World Cup the inquiries continue. I dare say they will continue for a long time to come. Given the exalted status that Indian cricket and the players enjoy, given that it was a World Cup final, at home, and that India were firm favourites going into the final, it is understandable that the reactions have been pretty strong.

Of course at times like this, for the same reasons cited above, one can go overboard. So it is not a surprise that many of the comments have been ill balanced, and all sorts of theories have been put forward as to the reasons for India’s defeat.

What has intrigued me is the fact that while all talk has centred around India’s defeat, very little credit has been given to the Australians for the victory. After all if India lost, it is also true that Australia won and after coming into the title clash as underdogs.

Much has been made of the bloopers on the Indian side, but little has been said about the tenacity or the tactical superiority of the Aussies. Much has been made of India’s ten successive victories going into the final, a superb achievement one must add, but it must not be forgotten that Australia too had eight successive victories on the eve of the title clash.

Moreover, no other team in ODI history has run up the kind of record that they have come up with, highlighted by the five title triumphs before notching up their sixth one on November 19. And it is not just living on past glory like the West Indies; Australia’s previous World Cup win was notched up as recently as 2015.

Australia have achieved their pre-eminent position in world cricket though a never-say-die attitude. The phrase ‘no match is lost till it is won’ applies to the Aussies more than any other team.

The manner in which they shrugged off the loss in their first two games and came back strongly was commendable. Nothing epitomised their dogged spirit more admirably than the victory achieved from nowhere against Afghanistan.

At 91 for seven requiring another 201 runs for victory it was clearly Mission Impossible. But while this may be true for most teams Australia thanks to Glenn Maxwell’s heroic pyrotechnics pulled off the impossible.

Once in the knockouts it was clear that Australia would prove to be strong contenders for the title. A close victory over South Africa hardened them suitably for the title clash. They had a 5 – 2 record in World Cup finals and that should have been a warning that India would not have things their own way.

Once the game started the Australians unfolded their technical superiority and tactical acumen. When it comes to crunch games no team can raise their game to the required level better than the Aussies.

Pat Cummins had notched up a psychological point on the eve of the game with his comment “the crowd is obviously going to be very one sided but there is nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent.” The Aussies did this, and how! His decision to bowl first must have come as a surprise to the Indian players who were up against some outstanding ground fielding.

Much has been made of Rohit Sharma’s `irresponsible’ shot that led to his dismissal but in reality it was Travis Head’s out of this world catch that should have been the major talking point. Even till the last second the ball seemed to be eluding him until a timely dive saw him get to the ball inches from the ground.

The Indian captain had been playing in a similarly aggressive note throughout the competition, to much praise, in a bid to get his team off to a breezy start so instead of criticising him it would be better to appreciate Head’s superlative catch.

Much has also been made of the fact that after getting 80 runs in the first ten overs the Indians managed just 160 runs in the following 40 overs to be all out for 240. Very few boundaries were hit and the Indians went into a defensive mindset, is the charge.

On the contrary here again one must applaud the Aussie strategy of keeping the Indians on a leash. First there was the outstanding fielding. And then the astute field placements by Cummins gave the batsmen little room to manoeuvre.

The boundaries also dried up as a result of the frequent bowling changes by Cummins. Fully aware that after losing three wickets in ten overs the Indians would not want to take risks he bowled his lesser bowlers Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head with the consistently successful Adam Zampa being able to keep the runs in check.

The tactic worked so admirably that even while Virat Kohli and K. L. Rahul effected a recovery of sorts with their fourth wicket partnership of 67 runs they used up 18 overs in the process. By the time Kohli was dismissed it was nearly the 30-over mark and the late order batting desperately short of practice with the top order performing so admirably in the earlier matches was always going to be vulnerable and so it proved against the pace trio of Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood who were now back and fresh to complete their quota of overs.

That an in-form batsman like Rahul took 107 balls to compile 66 with just one four symbolised the success of Australia’s `bottle them up’ tactics.

The match was won and lost at this stage for a target of 241 was never going to be a problem for the Aussies. Despite some early hiccups Australia cruised home absolutely deserving winners.

They were the better team temperamentally, technically and tactically and instead of coming down harshly on the Indians, it would be a more fruitful, right and proper exercise to praise the Aussies.