Sunday 19th November 2023 would go down as the day most Indian hearts were broken. A day when the Indian ODI men’s team made us proud and made us cry at the same time. My eleven observations from the eleven matches that India played.
1) We won the Profit and Loss statement but lost the balance sheet.
The finance professional knows that a P&L is made for a period – it shows Revenue, EBIDTA, PBT, PAT, etc. Over 50 days India owned all the KPIs - wins, runs, individual runs, wickets, NRR, margin of wins, etc., BUT
A balance sheet is made at a point in time – it shows assets and liabilities on a particular date. On 19th November, Australia aced the balance sheet – the Trophy was its biggest asset and a billion broken hearts, its liability.
Over the last decade, India has had the better P&L – batting, bowling records, number 1 ranking, etc., but Australia has had the better balance sheet, even in T20 cricket.
2) Pat Cummins’ statement - “Nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent” would go down in cricket history as the smartest mind game ever. The silent crowds during large parts of the match became the biggest talking point. While the noise would have motivated the Aussies, much like soul-sucking Dementors (from Harry Potter), the silence of the crowd enervated the Indians.
3) Australia’s counterintuitive (bowling first after winning the toss in a World Cup final) decision was bold. It unnerved and confused the Indians, further upping the mind game ante.
4) To err once is human, to err twice is stupid. Ashwin did not play in the WTC finals and that had proved fatal. To not play him in the CWC final despite his stellar record against left-handers? Unfathomable.
5) By sending Jadeja ahead of SKY and bowling Shami ahead of Siraj, India blinked twice. To a team that takes a mile if given an inch, India gave it a kilometer. And Australia ruthlessly exploited it.
6) The Aussies rose to the occasion. The occasion froze the Indians. The bold made the indecisive fold.
7) India still depended on its venerable veterans – of the 6 players who shone for India – Rohit, Kohli, Jadeja, Shami, Bumrah, and Shreyas, three are 34 years plus and Shami is 33. The only ODI World Cup debutant who did well was Shreyas.
A sobering thought.
8) Netherlands and Afghanistan showed that cricket has become a level playing field. In the shorter versions, there are no favorites.
9) India showcased that it could organize big tournaments seamlessly. And make money in the bargain.
10) The ODI format seemed to be on the ventilator before the CWC began. Great team performances – Netherlands, Afghanistan, and individual performances – Kohli’s 700 plus, Maxwell’s maniacal double century, and Shami’s 7 fer revived the dying ODI format, giving it fresh legs.
11) The Indian team played some of the best cricket it has ever played – much like Johan Cruyff’s Netherlands which played Total Football in 1974 but lost the World Cup final to West Germany, Rohit Sharma led India to play Total Cricket till it lost in the finals.
They brought the nation together and gave us exhilarating moments to remember for a lifetime. Alas, the Gods were not on our side when it mattered.
