When the fast-paced T20 cricket dawned upon us, it was quite interesting to see how One Day International cricket started to throw up conventionalists and purists. Let us not forget that the birth of ODI cricket, all those years ago, was a revolutionary one. Change is the only constant and cricket also has to adapt. Any change is often a tug of war between the traditionalists and the early adopters, and when the cricket world was forced to accept T20, which provided instant gratification, many thought the 50-over format was done for―and not without reason. There were far too many inconsequential matches and series without a context, many matches followed more or less the same boring formula and outcome, close and exciting finishes were fewer and many had started to lose interest. Test cricket being the ultimate test, there was no question mark against its relevance, but many felt that ODIs had started to lose its sheen.
The ICC World Cup 2019 has been a good promotion for ODI cricket. For starters, it wasn’t a “help yourself” carnival for the batsmen, as feared by many. Many matches saw an even contest between the bat and the ball, and scores of less than 250 runs provided some good, gripping contests and entertaining cricket. The weather conditions and the pitches getting slower as the tournament progressed could all have contributed, but there is no doubt that the bowlers were in business. And then the final! Oh boy, there couldn’t have been a better advertisement for 50-over cricket than the final at Lord’s. If there was ever a classic illustration of “cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties”, it was on display last Sunday.
England and New Zealand offered moments that will be cherished by cricket lovers forever. The match was reminiscent of the semifinal played out between Australia and South Africa at Edgbaston 20 years ago. Many consider that tied match as the greatest ODI ever. The Sunday’s title clash would go one up in terms of drama, thanks to the bizarre ‘ricocheted’ six runs and the subsequent super over. “Cricket is the winner” has become an annoying cliché but there is no better way to describe Sunday’s result.
It’s a shame that the winner had to be decided on the basis of the number of boundaries scored. In fact, it’s a lot of nonsense. It again takes you to the unhealthy trend of limiting cricket to a show of boundary-hitting. Why can’t the winner be decided on the basis of the net run rate? Why can’t it be the number of wickets lost? Why can’t there be another super over if one is not enough to separate the teams, like the sudden death in soccer? Well, at a venue where traditions stack up, it’s an irony that the world champions had to be decided on the number of boundaries hit!
New Zealand's captain Kane Williamson reacts after their loss to England in the ICC World Cup 2019 final | Reuters
It was a case of a slip between the cup and the lip for a couple of teams and they will be licking their wounds for some time. It was disappointing to see the drop in standards and lack of consistency of a few teams. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and West Indies all had their moments, but they were few and far between and not posing any real threat. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was South Africa. One of the most potent forces in world cricket, the Proteas were a mere shadow of what they were expected to be, and their only consolation was beating the Aussies towards the fag end of their campaign.
As the world congratulates England, almost every cricket fan will be feeling sorry for New Zealand. The Black Caps can be absolutely proud of what they did at the World Cup. They didn’t lose, it’s just that technically, they aren’t the champions. In fact, it was just that kind of a Sunday. As New Zealand saw the World Cup being snatched away from them after laying one hand on it, not far away from Lord’s, Roger Federer saw the Wimbledon trophy slipping away from him despite having two match points at one stage. Sports is like that. It often offers drama more than life does. There is no doubt that the World Cup final will be talked about for a very long time to come. It’s just the kind of advertisement that one day cricket needed at this time. Long live the drama, long live one day cricket!
Sreeduth is a sports broadcaster, management consultant, quiz show host, columnist and a noted percussionist as well.
