- A billion hearts were broken when Team India could not cross the final hurdle in the recently concluded cricket World Cup against Australia. It’s no exaggeration to state that the entire country was fervently praying for Team India to lift the much-coveted Cup after a gap of 12 years. Of course, the country was on cloud nine and pregnant with the solid belief that Team India would go the distance this time around since the outfit completely dominated the league stage matches with tremendous allround performances. They were challenged only once, that too in the first match against Australia, in the nine-league matches steamrolling every opponent with consummate ease. Even the semifinal against New Zealand was won by Team India quite convincingly.
PC: Cricket Lounge
- The form book, the statistics, the performances – sometimes intimidating – and the convincing manner with which the opposition teams were consumed showed that Team India was in for something special. As the final approached, the anticipation of Team India simply rolling over the Aussies kept scaling up despite the cricketing wisdom dictating that the sport cannot be taken for granted. Note that the form on the day defines the eventual outcome and what turned out in the finals was precisely this. Team Australia not only performed better on the day but also showed to the cricketing world yet again why they are six times champions in the 50-over format. No wonder, the entire country was stunned and disturbed beyond explanation by the unexpected defeat.
- What followed aftermath of the Team India’s defeat was not expected though as emotions ran amok with players themselves overwhelmed by the occasion leading to gut-wrenching visuals all around. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli trying hard to hold back tears made for a distressing visual. Mohammad Siraj letting tears flow made for a very emotional scenario. For that matter, the Indian dressing room appeared heavy with a cornucopia of emotions waiting to explode anytime. Yes, Team India was the team to beat in the World Cup and was considered as the overwhelming favourites to clinch the title. Nonetheless, faltering at the last hurdle does not mean a pragmatic and professional assessment of why Team India failed in the final should be forsaken.
PC: India Today
- In simple cricketing or sporting parlance, Team India lost a golden opportunity to own the coveted World Cup despite possessing the requisite ammunition in terms of talent, skills, and performers with proven credentials. Needless to mention, no one remembers the runners-up as what matters in the end is winning. It’s all too simple to say that one must lose and the other must win, but the winner always gets everything even as the loser is left to rue the missed opportunity. Yes, the benefit of hindsight offers several scenarios that could have helped Team India to emerge as the eventual winner. Some weeks down the line, after the dust and emotions settle down, it will be amply clear that Team India missed the bus big time.
