Was it last weekend that the cricket teams of India & Pakistan – two of the biggest contenders for the ICC World Cup – faced the wrath of their respective fans for terrible performances? Both endured bad, very bad, losses. Sure, the results of their respective matches were the same, but one had to suspect that India likely suffered some emotional scars along the way. See, it’s much easier to recover from a complete beat down, like the one Pakistan took at the hands of New Zealand. You’ve got to chalk it up to a bad day on the field and hope you have a better day the next time around.
On the other hand, when you have a great opportunity to win against a great team like South Africa, and you squander it the way India did, that’s got to not only hurt more, but bring up questions of nerves, strategies, captaincy and everything else. So, it was no surprise that nobody on the team was spared by the fans and media alike – the bowler who bowled the ill fated last over, the captain whose instinct had let him down, the batsmen who threw away a perfectly good opportunity to put up a huge score. Heck, not even the guy who scored the century was spared, what with that pattern of losses when he does score one! More on that later.
An Exciting Weekend Ahead…
Hopefully this weekend was going to be a different for both teams, with better fortunes? While they had both qualified for the knockout stage of the tournament, the weekend’s matches had a lot at stake – better seeding and… pride. Pakistan was taking on the juggernaut that’s Australia, the three time defending champions who hadn’t lost in 33 world cup matches over a 12 year span, while India had the mercurial West Indies to deal with.
So, there I was, at 5 in the morning, Saturday, having slept less than a monk, knowing very well that I wasn’t going to get much more sleep, with a lot of coffee on the brewer, looking forward to an awesome weekend. What could make it better? Cricket AND Tennis, that’s what – it was a blockbuster of a line up at the ATP Masters 1000 at Indian Wells, CA, with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro making it to the semi-finals of the ATP Masters at Indian Wells.
My immediate focus however was on the cricket, and the first match was a cracker. Despite their poor showing in their last match versus New Zealand, Pakistan were expected to put an end to Australia’s win streak. Say what? You could see why the expectations were on Pakistan to derail the Aussies, as their bowlers throttled Australia’s batting lineup, eventually getting them out for a paltry 176.
Ricky, oh, Ricky!
Ricky Ponting, Australia’s embattled captain, and one of the greatest batsmen the world has seen, has been at the helm of one of the greatest teams in history, leading Australia to numerous victories, none bigger than the last two ICC World Cups in 2003 & 2007. So, I guess he and his team are entitled to be arrogant, but there is a fine line between being arrogant and being downright cocky.
The problem with being cocky however is that the rest of the world enjoys watching you fail. You throw in some poor attitude unbecoming of a captain, like Ricky has in the last few matches, people not only enjoy watching you fail, they actually hope you do.
Controversy…
So, there he was, woefully out of touch, struggling to find runs, his aging reflexes letting his finely tuned batting style down, when he clearly edged one to the wicket keeper. Not very surprisingly to many however, he stood his ground until the third umpire confirmed that his bat had indeed caught the edge.
Here’s what I thought of the whole thing…
The rest of the FB crowd however was a lot harsher than I was, some suggesting that he had no right to hang around knowing he had got an edge – he should have walked, or even worse, he should be banned for at least one game.
Either way, right or wrong, Ricky made no new fans that day, and neither did his Australian side. I wanted to see his Australian team bite the dust, despite the Indo-Pakistan rivalry that usually gets in the way of rooting for Pakistan, India’s arch rivals.
And that’s exactly what happened to Ricky and his Australian team. His team got a taste of some really spicy Keema Gosht Curry, Pakistan style.
Australia’s run of 33 consecutive victories had come to an end, coincidentally at the hands of the same team that beat them last, and that’s how things work out sometimes.
With even less sleep than the previous night, was I going to miss the big one – India against the West Indies? And miss watching Sachin Tendulkar bat if India went first? Not a chance! Groggy and completely disoriented, I barely made it to the coffee when Tendulkar went, caught behind for a paltry two runs. Oh crap!
More Controversy!
Disappointing as his loss was, what was even more disappointing, was the way he went. It took Rampaul’s ‘perfect ball at the perfect time’ to get Tendulkar. On TV replays, it didn’t look like he got an edge, and the umpire didn’t think he did either. Unlike Ricky Ponting however, Sachin simply turned and walked, much to the chagrin of all the Indian fans who had come to see him score another big one.
While Sachin showed all class and walked off a true gentleman, I disagreed with the approach. Here’s why…
Apparently, there is a lot of questions around what the right thing is… to walk or not to walk? Should Sachin have stayed and waited for the umpire’s decision? Should Ricky have walked before the umpire’s decision? When there is technology, why not make use of it? Let me know what you think.
With Roger coming a cropper against the “unstoppable” Novak at Indian Wells, and now Sachin gone, it certainly turned out to be a bad weekend for geniuses!
Now that Sachin was gone, scarred by the performance of the rest of the team against South Africa, I couldn’t help but think that this was a lost cause, but I was to be proved wrong. Perhaps stung by the criticism the previous week or perhaps recognizing the huge void left by Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, with a century and Virat Kohli with a fifty provided the much needed stability that was expected of this “strong” batting lineup.
I’ve Seen This Bad Movie Before
Just when you thought that the Indian middle order had learned its lesson, off came the wheels, as six wickets fell for the addition of 50 runs after looking good at 218 for 4. This was like a Michael Bay movie that starts off so good that it keeps you at seat’s edge, only to fall off into mediocrity and eventually into disappointment.
With just 268 to get, the West Indies, with some very talented batters on the team, and despite the absence of the biggest one in Chris Gayle, surely should be putting this away, right? Or so I thought. After a great start to the innings, the middle order started to fall apart in a way that would’ve made India proud.
Conspiracy
First the Indian batting capitulates after a great start, and now the West Indies do the same? Conspiracy theorists abound – I was one of them – jovially of course, questioning the “strategy” of both teams. Were either of these two teams trying to avoid a possible confrontation with the recently wounded Aussies? After all, who wanted to face the defending champions, now that they’ve had all that pressure of keeping the win streak alive, lifted off their shoulders?
It sure looked that way for a while, but in the end, India pulled away winning by 80 runs, as the bowlers held up their end of the bargain finally winning one, as if to say… bring on the Aussies.
Conjecture
In my last post, I wrote about the so called “connection” between Tendulkar’s centuries and India’s losses. Let’s revisit that for a second, shall we? Right on the heels of a loss where Sachin scores a hundred, comes an Indian victory, but Sachin only scores 2. Here’s my comment, laced with a heavy dose of sarcasm, very likely to be interpreted otherwise…
Uh oh! This is exactly the kind of situation that lends credence to the myth, and creates a meme that’s nothing more than conjecture. If you didn’t know the facts, like I point out in that post, you’re likely to believe that Tendulkar’s hundreds are bad for India’s chances.
Curries
In the end, it sure turned out to be a good weekend for the Indian & Pakistani teams, both of them serving up some spicy curry that their respective opponents had a hard time swallowing. They will be swapping opponents next week – the Pakistanis take on the West Indies while India takes on the mighty Australians. This time around the stakes are higher, with the winners advancing to the semi-finals and the losers going home. They will both be hoping to make up curries that would be too hot to handle for their opponents!
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