Well there is a lot to talk about this game. By every quadrennial, this carnival of Cricket is getting huge. For me, a World Cup is a sheer celebration of this lovely game called Cricket. Naturally as we grow up, we tend to bring some changes in our way of celebration, and so is with Cricket. This apogee of the gentleman's game has seen a revolution in its growing stature over the years. This game is reaching to the new audiences by world's lengths and breadths. Cricket was a latecomer to global tournaments, and the first one came to be largely because the game was not financially strong.
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| The First W Cup Champions |
In 1975, following the success of domestic one-day competitions, the six Test-playing nations (England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India and Pakistan) were joined by Sri Lanka and East Africa in the first World Cup held in England, which was the only nation that was able to put forward the resources to stage an event of such magnitude. There was a 60 overs game played with that Red cherry in the traditional white suits, was a completely different story. One notable omission was the South African cricket team who were not competing due to the international sports boycott. Hospitalising of two Sri Lankans, far more indefensible Sunil Gavaskar's go-slow in the opening game and not a huge fan of ODI cricket - Ian Chappell - who only cared about beating England in the World Cup, were the key highlights of the first global showpiece. And then there was Viv Richards' hat-trick of almost derisive run-outs and the twilit tenacity of Lillee and Thomson remain tattooed on the memory, but it was Lloyd's feline stroke play that bequeathed the most vivid, vivacious, reverberant legacy. "His innings will always be talked about while those who watched it are still alive," predicted John Woodcock (an English cricket writer and journalist) in the Times. "He made the pitch and the stumps and the bowlers and the ground and the trees all seem much smaller than they were."
On the 21st June 1975, ODI no. 33 saw the inaugural World cup champions. The players of most of the teams not only have fantasized about playing in Wcup, but also they have raised the bar of the way Cricket is being played during these Wcups. In that era, batsman could play out 60 overs painstakingly in making 40-50 odd runs, but these days, a score of 334 in 60 overs would probably be considered par. Possibly even a little under par. Rohit Sharma would probably destroy it in the space of a couple of hours. It is an indication of the rapid and dramatic transmogrification of the one-day international, from its innocent, all-white beginnings to the genetically-modified pop-cricket that we are experiencing.
In that very first World Cup, the average run rate was just under four an over. A six arrived on average every 344 balls – once an innings, if you were lucky. But now we can see a six almost in every other over. Now a days, 300 is not steep target to chase. When the World Cup first commenced, players strove hard just to amass a total of 200 and odd. In today’s game, nothing short of 300 is worth trying to defend, even in the most difficult pitches. Infact, I would say, 400 is the new 300. We can see, how many times the teams have ticked 400 mark in the current W Cup!
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| 400 is the new 300 |
In 1992, the tournament assumed a bigger, more radical skin. Whites were dispensed with as coloured clothing, that red cherry turned white and floodlights were introduced to augment day-night matches. Television took on a bigger role and a strange rain rule (Duck-worth Lewis) triggered all sorts of debates. The tournament was of a higher profile, and players were the direct beneficiaries. Sponsors began to pour in, TV deals were signed and everyone jostled for a piece of the pie.
The innovation in the shots, light bats, the power plays have given license to the batsmen to throw their bats on almost every ball. Opening Batsmen from the period of 2000s like - Sehwag, McCallum, Gilchrist, Gayle never allowed bowlers to settle down, and is the sole reason for doing the pacers painfully pedestrian. I remember in the W Cup 2011 Sehwag hit 4 boundaries in as many matches to open the innings for India - aah.. such was the demolition. These all hard-hitters used to (some still) go berserk without getting off the mark. In the 1990s, the first 10 overs were perhaps the most crucial part of the innings. With only two fielders allowed outside the inner circle, it became common a trait for the teams to employ a pinch-hitter at the top of the order. But this generation now wants both to attack and to build their innings. They are a good mix of caution with aggression. They know when to shift the gears and when to step up to the plate - to take the charge.
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| Nightmare for the bowlers |
The 2011 W Cup played in the subcontinent saw - how the batsmen had a feast to score on the flat tracks, as compared to 2007 Wcup. The bowlers were carted all over the park and it continued till the last ball hit furiously by MS Dhoni - the famous helicopter shot. But, now batsmen, being ambidextrous, are way more biased to play the reverse sweeps, the switch hits, scoops over the slip cordons with consummate ease - to which one can't set the field . Whether it's - Maxwell reversing his stance and flicking a 140kph full toss over the third-man boundary or Rossouw's flying uppercut over backward point - that left us envious. These all innovative rather improvised shots were unknown in the previous editions of W Cups. But now these shots are bread & butter for some bats. There is an introduction of a new concept called using the deep crease. These modern era batsmen know how to get their dancing shoes ON and to sway within the popping crease to fox the bowlers to persuade them to stray their radar. They are a step ahead of what bowlers are thinking. We all are somewhat lucky, in a way, to watch playing AB Devilliers - who can bat around 360 degree; he can, by far, bludgeon any bowler. He has all the shots in his armoury - especially sweep-scooping one to the square leg boundary and can shift the gears at any stage of the innings. As Dale Steyn puts it - "It's like watching the Matrix movie. There's Neo right there. He doesn't understand how good he is" (They say he has not left any weak zone for the bowlers to target). Richards' manufactured flick for six off Hendrick's final delivery in the final of first W Cup was the perfect finishing touch for West Indies in 1979. I think, Richards was the first who started to employ the devastation amongst the bowlers.
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| Mr. 360 |
Then, there is a batch of suave youngsters like V. Kohli, K.Williamson, S. Smith, J. Root - who are considered as cricket's future at the tender age and now are the trump cards of their respective teams, despite of having way more experienced campaigners in their squads. They are the new Tendulkars, Pontings & Laras of this generation. It's a sheer joy to watch them batting. Their no nonsense attitude towards Cricket is rare thing to have in this professional age. Spice of T20 cricket, new rules and the urgency of getting past the score of 300 have enticed players like Amla, Rahane, Misbah to transform their strike rates.
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| Future of cricket |
And this has made bowlers to doubt their existence in the game of cricket. To add salt to their wounds, the new rules of powerplay, free-hits, limitations over bowling the bouncers per over and two new balls from both the ends made it even worse. Fast outfields, shorter grounds, thick bats are playing villain to them, gradually they tend to succumb to leak the runs. Owing to this - the bowlers and their coaches have to ignite their think tanks to fetch something out of the box. Thanks to the bowlers like Holding, Warne (with a mesmerising spell of 4 for 33 in '99 final), McGrath, Akram (Shone under Melbourne Sky in '92), Muralidharan, Zaheer who delivered their best in winning causes. Now the onus will be on the Johnsons, Starcs, Boults, Ashwins to deliver the same the spellbound attacks. Good to see, in the initial games (of this W Cup) they are penetrating the batsmans' defence at 145+ Kmph and it almost seems mandatory to do that. Just after two weeks in the event and fears that the pair of lacquered white balls would swing the game too heavily away from top-order batsmen, when bowlers get it to deviate from the straight – have proved unfounded.
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| Pace battery |
Amid all the speculation that proliferated in the months and years leading into this World Cup, the introduction of two new balls – one taken from either end by the bowling team – was the point of difference between previous W Cups that generated the most discussion. But, these two new balls theory from both the ends have made spinners' life difficult. Unlike earlier, they don't get the 20 over old ball to fetch the grip from surface. However thanks to the T20 cricket, now they are getting used to with this and trying to be economical rather than going for wickets (which is not a healthy sign). The conglomeration of variation in the pace and slow bouncers (specially in the death overs) have done a world of good for them, so far. Then there are those ruinous toe crushing yorkers, back of the hand slower deliveries etc. have played a fuel injection in their arsenal.
Who can explain the importance of a single better than Proteas? Jeez, that was the tightest of ties in all W Cups('99 in 2nd Semi final). They say catches win matches, but even a safest pair of hands can drop a W Cup! Err... no it did happen - well, Gibbs can explain this well - “You've just dropped the W Cup, mate”! Fielding standards have gone high for everyone these days; to surprise - the minnows are somewhat better than some of the test playing nations, when it comes to fielding. We all know - wearing Number 99 on his back, a police-man by profession and weighing in at over 280lb (127kg) Bermuda’s Dwayne Leverock looked more at home in a rugby front row than a slip cordon. Good sides always have had good men patrolling boundaries. There are Supermen like S. Smith, Raina, McCallum, Pollard to pluck anything somewhere around them. Unlike earlier generations these players are not worried about injuries and every run is gold dust for these Ninjas.
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| Superman aka Steve Smith |
It feels proud to see the associate nations have raised their game by every upcoming W Cup; they seem well-oiled units. For instance, every now and then - Ireland went rampant and shanghaied some of the superior teams, is a paradigm of the revolution. They always picked up from where they left last time. They persuade us to think, as if they were playing on some other planet and came back straightway to this Wcup after 4 years with the same form. In the batting department - March 2nd 2011 is a date that will live in Irish sporting folklore, as Ohh..Brien (I mean O'Brien ) put cricket on the front pages in the emerald isle with a stunning win over England by putting up the fastest-ever century (50 balls) in World Cup history by then. Well in the 2003 - Sanath Jayasuriya and co.'s worst nightmare came true when a spirited performance from Collins Obuya, who took 5 for 24, helped Kenya to pull off a memorable upset.
These all teams are in the tournament to show the test playing nations that - they are not here just to fill the numbers and also these movers and shakers should not consider them as minnows for anymore - as they can spoil the party for sure.
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| No more minnows |
Gone are the days now, when the heavyweights in the Cricket world dominated the game for a long time (like Australia did for more than a decade) - no more stomach churns now. Today's cricket fan would be really happy to see the neck and neck competition. Being futile in the team is now yesterday's story. Teams are charting a new course, now they have learnt the hard way of putting down the shaky nerves than to nurture them. To take the early lead in the game is their priority and not to dwell on the past anymore. These teams know to make the early inroads despite of losing the toss. Earlier teams were used to rely on the veterans, but now you need every player to be your Ace on a given day.
Prize Money ? Yes, in keeping with the trend of each event being more rewarding than the previous one, the 2015 World Cup will be the most lucrative yet. In the inaugural edition '75, from a total pool of £9000. - the winners -Windies collected £4000 (nearly £30,000 adjusted for inflation) for their efforts, The losing finalists - £2000, while the Man of the Match in the final bagged £200. Lucrative numbers at that time, certainly. This time around, teams stand to earn as much as $4,020,000 provided they are unbeaten till the end. If a team loses one match en route to the title, it can still earn $3,975,000. Wow, isn't it a heavy cash-flow? A side which will produce a good piece of Cricket will definitely going to break the bank.
The technology has proved a boon to this game - the DRS, snickometer, close look on the no-balls etc. have added as incentives to it. In the 1st quarter final of WCUP 15, we all heard the voice of the 3rd umpire for the first time on our TV sets, I thought that was colossal step towards fetching the precision (about the umpiring decisions) to this heavy-hitter game. We have started to consider - even the half of a millimeter deflection to check whether the ball has pitched in line or not, in a game which is being played on hectares of land. I was in awe to see this rare sight and I thought I'm really lucky to witness this era of cricket.
Of Course, the 1975 World Cup was an accident of sorts, but the event has clearly come a long way since then. To paraphrase Scyld Berry (a cricket correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph), the World Cup is now a middle-aged man of 40, wise and assured, but still possessing the old flamboyance of a classic rock star. All I can say, this the beauty of this incredible game.
Indeed, the standards have lifted!
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