Sports
India have to still beat two big favourites (Column: Just Sport)
By
Veturi SrivatsaAlmost a month before the World Cup got under way, when most people were
writing off India’s chances of defending their title, two grey-haired
individuals said on a television talk show that it would be an
India-Australia final at the majestic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on
March 29.
The others on the panel were not so sure and played
safe by predicting a South Africa-Australia final with New Zealand as
the dark horse because they are the only side playing all their matches
at home, including the semis.
India are indeed playing Australia,
but in the semifinal, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Thursday.
New Zealand play their penultimate match against South Africa on Tuesday
after easily getting past the West Indies in the last quarterfinal game
on Saturday.
As suspected, the preliminary roundrobin system
made sure that all the top Test-playing teams made the quarterfinal
round, though there was some synthetic suspense and excitement till the
last two matches of the league.
It may not be all that thrilling
to watch big guns walloping the minnows, raising big totals. But at the
same it is worrisome to see a team like the West Indies conceding
400-plus once and coming close to it (393) in the quarter-final against
New Zealand, more than half of the runs coming from Martin Guptill
(237), the second double-century maker in the World Cup after Chris
Gayle.
Still, one wished Ireland were there in the so-called
elite eight for the sheer brand of dashing cricket they exhibited.
Afghanistan, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates have posed more than a
question to the authorities of the sport that they should get big-time
encouragement if they have to stand up to the big guns.
If
India have to be real world champions they will have to beat all those
billed as favourites. They have beaten South Africa and will have to
beat Australia and possibly New Zealand, if they enter the final,
failing which they will have to beat the Proteas a second time.
World
Cup has turned out to be a different kettle of fish and what transpired
before is of little consequence. India’s distressing tour Down Under is
a forgotten chapter and it was evident from the way they began their
Cup defence, outplaying Pakistan in the opening game and treating South
Africa with scant respect.
The two victories proved beyond doubt
that the Indians cannot be trifled with. Pakistan have been a
perennially tough side to beat, though India have never lost to them in
World Cups, and the South Africans have always been a difficult team to
deal with. The other teams in Pool B and the quarter-finalists
Bangladesh lacked class to challenge India.
Whatever be the
grievances India’s neighbours about umpires ruling a full toss above
Rohit Sharma’s waist or Shikhar Dhawan throwing the ball into field of
play before crossing the boundary rope and jumping back to complete a
catch, Bangladesh would not have been able to beat a side that has not
lost a match right through the tournament.
What the Bangladeshis,
out of frustration, did on the social networking sites can
understandably be condoned, but not the feeling vented by the
Bangladeshi president of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He
cannot get away saying he is speaking on his personal capacity as a
cricket fan. The ICC has apparently taken a serious view of his
utterances and he may face dire consequences.
Sadly, Bangladesh Prime Minister also seem to endorse team’s standpoint that the Indians won because of the umpiring.
We
don’t need Mustafa Kamal to say that quality of umpiring in the World
Cup is poor, people can judge themselves. His diatribe against the
umpires, saying they had an agenda, is highly objectionable. By
inference, he is saying they wilfully facilitated India’s victory.
Kamal’s
words are shocking and dangerous coming from the ICC president. At best
he could have repeated skipper Mashrafe Motoza’s diplomatic line: Don't
want to say anything about the umpiring, everybody has seen what
happened.
Just as well ICC chief executive Dave Richardson
quickly refuted Kamal’s insinuation in the strongest terms, insisting
that the ICC match officials’ integrity is unquestionable.
The
irony is India were previously at the receiving end of some atrocious
decisions which could have gone their way if only they had relented on
Decision Review System (DRS) without insisting on fool-proof technology.
Umpiring
decisions are like the near hits and misses in a match and should be
taken in the stride. The list of decision that went against India over
the years are staggering.
Why go far, the number of decisions
that went against India in the recent bilateral series against Australia
should clearly prod the Indian cricket board to change its posture,
more so now that the staunchest antagonists against DRS are no longer
playing.
There is no place for big-brother attitude or cussedness.
(Veturi Srivatsa is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at [email protected])