But both sides agree that this was possibly the nadir for Indian cricket in terms of World Cups, and never ever has the side been in such ignominy since coloured clothing was adopted in cricket. India’s West Indies trip was a story of three matches and little else.

Accusations and anger that followed were natural, and refuse to die down even now, while the team that has moved on, as have all the players, would most likely still sit back and wonder at time as what went wrong.’But both sides agree that this was possibly the nadir for Indian cricket in terms of World Cups, and never ever has the side been in such ignominy since coloured clothing was adopted in cricket. India’s West Indies trip was a story of three matches and little else.

Bob Woolmer’s death

The biggest news of this World Cup was the death of Pakistan’s English coach Bob Woolmer.

Woolmer was found dead on March 18 in his hotel room in Kingston, Jamaica, a day after his side’s loss to Ireland which sent them packing. Initially considered a suspicious death, leading to a post-mortem and subsequently Jamaica police opened a murder investigation, which was subsequently reversed and remains a mystery till now.

New hosts and format

The Caribbean islands hosted their first World Cup and as many as 16 teams participated in the jamboree. The sides were divided into four groups and the top two teams from all groups then played a Super 8 format.

The associate teams included Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland, who contested with the 10 Test-playing countries.

India’s disastrous run

India were clubbed with Bangladesh, Bermuda and Sri Lanka, and on any normal time, they were a cinch for the Super 8s. But it did not quite go down like that.

India began with a sensational loss to Bangladesh at Port of Spain, Trinidad, on March 17. Batting first, India were all at sea and barring Sourav Ganguly’s painstaking 66 and 47 runs from Yuvraj Singh, there was little else as they ended at 191 runs.

Bangladesh medium-pacer Mashrafe Mortaza claimed four wickets while spinners Abdur Razzak and Mohammad Rafique had three wickets each.

In reply, Bangladesh saw half-centuries from opener Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib al Hasan as they notched up a five-wicket win.

India duly beat Bermuda but their last-ditch battle with Sri Lanka ended in a defeat and they were out.
Upul Tharanga (64), Chamara Silva (59) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (38) guided Sri Lanka to a moderate 254/6 in their 50 overs but under-pressure India were not up for the challenge.

Skipper Rahul Dravid scored 60 and Virender Sehwag 48 but three wickets from Muttiah Muralitharan, two Chaminda Vaas and contributions from all the Sri Lankan bowlers saw India crumble to 185 all out in 43.3 overs and their run had ended ingloriously.

All-win Australia lift another title

Australia were once again at their best. They registered 12 consecutive victories in the tournament and brooked no opposition as they marched on.

After the league and Super 8s, Australian fast bowlers Shaun Tait (4/39) and Glenn McGrath (3/18) destroyed South Africa in the semi-finals, restricting them to just 149 runs, which they sailed past for a seven-wicket win.

In the other semi-final, Mahela Jayawardene scored 115 not out and Muralitharan claimed 4/31 as Sri Lanka knocked out New Zealand by 81 runs.

In the final, a repeat of the 1996 contest, Australia and Sri Lanka played what ended up being a fiasco of a final. As rain dominated, the match was initially reduced to a 38-over clash, and Adam Gilchrist blasted 149 as Australia reached 281/4.

Sri Lanka responded with challenging second-wicket stand between Sanath Jayasuriya (63) and Kumar Sangakkara (54) before wickets tumbled and the rain again reduced the overs to 36 overs and the Duckworth-Lewis System (DLS) target to 269.

But then the umpires asked the players to go back to the pavilion after 33 overs due to bad light and decided that the remaining three overs would be bowled the following day.

But rival skippers Ricky Ponting and Jayawardene decided to continue and the remaining overs were played in near-dark conditions and Australia finally win by 53 runs by the DLS system, taking their unbeaten World Cup streak to 29 matches.

The post ICC World Cup 2007: India’s Nightmare As Australia Notch Up Another Title appeared first on Cricket Country.

But sadly, for all of them, Australia were just too seasoned and their experience of playing finals made a telling difference as India could only offer very limited resistance in the title match. This is also the only time till now when India have reached the final and not lifted the trophy. But this was a side that excited all fans and kept them all clued in right through the tournament, but fell agonisingly short of their aim.

This was the biggest tournament to date with 14 teams participating. Apart from the 10 Test-playing nations, co-hosts Kenya were joined by Canada, Namibia and the Netherlands. With so many teams in the fray, this was also the tournament with the biggest number of matches as 54 games were played.

India were in Pool A with Australia, England, Namibia, the Netherlands, eternal rivals Pakistan and co-hosts Zimbabwe and ended the seven-team league in second position on points, behind Australia.

India’s Dodgy League Run

India couldn’t have asked for an easier opener when they met the Netherlands at Paarl on February 12 but their performance was not the best. It took a 52 from Sachin Tendulkar and contributions from Nayan Mongia (42) and Yuvraj Singh (27) to carry them to 204 off 48.5 overs. But Javagal Srinath (4/30) and Anil Kumble (4/32) were too hot to handle for the Dutch and they folded up for 136.

Worse was to come when India were absolutely walloped by Australia in their next match. Tendulkar again top-scored with 36 and Harbhajan Singh scored 28 as India were bundled out for 125, with Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie claiming three wickets each. Australia cantered home to a nine-wicket win.

But things then looked up as India beat Zimbabwe and Namibia and then got the better of England, riding on Ashish Nehra’s sensational 6/23.

Nehra classic

India batted first at Durban and Tendulkar got another half-century (50) while Rahul Dravid top-scored with 62. Virender Sehwag, promoted to opener, got some useful runs as did Dinesh Mongia and Yuvraj Singh as India tallied 250/9 off 50 overs.

Nehra then waded into the English batting with a career-best wicket haul as they were sent packing for 168. Nehra’s victims included Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain, Paul Collingwood, Alec Stewart, Craig White and Ronnie Irani. By far the best World Cup show by any Indian bowler.

Pakistan Lose Again

India-Pakistan matches in World Cups have always been one-way traffic and this time was no different. India once more were on the winning side in their contest at Centurion on March 1.

Saeed Anwar, always a thorn in India’ side, once again was on the job with a century but got little support as Pakistan managed only 237/7 off 50 overs.

Tendulkar then hammered 98 off just 73 balls and Yuvraj (50 not out), Dravid (44 not out) and Sehwag (21) ensured an easy Indian win and vital points.

Sensations And Disasters

The tournament was a story of Kenya’s sensational entry into the semi-finals, as also of co-host South Africa’s inability to decipher the Duckworth-Lewis rain rule and crashing out of the tournament in that legendary match with Sri Lanka in Durban, when they needed one more run to win but ended with a tie after everyone in the South African camp misread the D/L run requirement. The nation was stunned as their team was washed away with the Durban rain.

Other disasters included England, Pakistan and the West Indies too crashing out in the league stage.

India Advance

India met Kenya in their semi-final in Cape Town and skipper Sourav Ganguly finally got some runs with and unbeaten 107 as India chased down the 225-run target rather comfortably but not before India were reduced to 3/24. Dravid (32) and Yuvraj (58 not out) then kept Ganguly company as India made it to their second World Cup final.

Australia were in fearsome form against Sri Lanka in what was quite a revenge match for the 1996 final. Ricky Ponting hammered 114 off 109 balls while Adam Gilchrist was run out at 99. Damien Martyn chipped in with 52 as the Aussies scored 319/5.

Sri Lanka were decimated Lee, Glann McGrath and Brad Hogg and only Aravinda de Silva (92) could offer any resistance as they went down by 96 runs.

Final Agony For India

Australia, who had witnessed star spinner Shane Warne being expelled from the tournament on drug abuse charges even before a ball was bowled, were again in the final and they had to contend with a chock-a-block Wanderers Stadium at Johannesburg on March 23 as they took on crowd favourites India. But the Australians were way more professional in their approach as India succumbed to the hype and pressure and it ended up being a one-sided affair.

Ponting once again led the batting assault with 140 runs off 121 deliveries after Gilchrist (57) and Matthew Hayden (37) had got them off to a flying start. Martyn contributed 88 not out of 84 deliveries as only Harbhajan Singh (2/49) had anything to offer in terms of resistance.

Sehwag’s 82 went in vain as India were never in the game. Dravid (47), Ganguly and Yuvraj (24 each) were not able to find enough support and India went down by a massive 125 runs.

India would have to wait another eight years to see another final. But that was a whole different story.

The post World Cup 2003: After The Crescendo, India Fall Short Of Glory appeared first on Cricket Country.

Australia and the West Indies refused to play in Sri Lanka in the tournament between February 14 and March 17, after some bomb blasts in the capital Colombo in January. Efforts to make them change their minds were all in vain.

Nevertheless, the International Cricket Council (ICC) was firm in not rescheduling the games and Sri Lanka got full points for both games with walkovers. Something that was to their benefit in the long run.

The tournament also saw the maximum number of teams participating, with the nine Test-playing nations being joined by three associate members in Kenya, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sri Lanka, with four points from two forfeits, were almost through to the quarter-finals even before stepping onto the ground. However, even in the other games, they found ways to surprise their rivals.

Call it indignation at being slighted by Australia or the West Indies, or the brilliant tactical acumen of coach Dav Whatmore, Sri Lanka were on another level.

The plan to use Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana as pinch-hitters at the top of the order bore rich fruit.

Their first ‘real’ match was Zimbabwe, which they won, and then they met India at New Delhi. Though the latter scored 271/3 off 50 overs, thanks to a run-a-ball 137 by Sachin Tendulkar and 72 not out from skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, Sri Lanka’s plan worked to perfection. Jayasuriya scored 79 off 76 balls and Kaluwitharana added 26 off 16 before Asanka Gurusinha, captain Arjuna Ranatunga and Hashan Tillekeratne sealed off a fine win.

Sri Lanka Then Crushed Kenya To Top The Group

Getting into the quarter-finals was not a great feat this year. All the teams had to do was to win two games. Everyone beat the UAE and Netherlands and four sides including India and Sri Lanka entered the quarter-finals.

India Stop Pakistan Again

India met Pakistan there, with India winning the Bangalore match by 39 runs. Navjot Singh Sidhu scored 93 and everyone chipped in as India scored 287/8 and Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble claimed three wickets each as Pakistan were restricted to 248/9 off 49 overs.

Sri Lanka were not bothered too much by England and duly entered the semi-finals, where they met India, at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Fire At Eden

Despite Azharuddin’s disastrous decision to field first on a breaking Eden pitch, India began sensationally, with Javagal Srinath dismissing Jayasuriya, Kaluwitharana, and Gurusinha, with the first two wickets falling with the score at just one run.

But the inimitable Aravinda de Silva, Roshan Mahanama, Ranatunga, and Tillekeratne came good and Chaminda Vaas used the long handle effectively as the visitors ended at 251/8.

India never got off the ground on the crumbling pitch and though Tendulkar got 65, it was a wasted effort as India were reduced to 120/8.

The Eden crowd was unforgiving and flames were seen in the stands as the anger boiled over. The match was halted and subsequently, Sri Lanka won by default, Vinod Kambli’s tears as he walked off being a stark reflection of India’s dismay.

Payback

The final, ironically, brought Sri Lanka face to face with Australia, who had snubbed him at the beginning of the tournament. The islanders had not forgotten and they made Australia pay.

The Aussies batted first at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and Mark Taylor (74), Ricky Ponting (45) and Michael Bevan (36 not out) got some runs but the Sri Lankan spinners, especially the innocuous off-spin of De Silva, were deadly. All Australia got was 241/7.

Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana left early again by De Silva was in supreme form, carving out 107 not out, while Gurusinha (65) and Ranatunga (47 not out) made sure that the Sri Lankans had vengeance and also the World Cup.

It was quite a sensational achievement for the Sri Lankans and their cause was vindicated, in one of the most dramatic World Cups ever.

The post World Cup 1996: Sri Lanka’s Moment Of Glory After Politics Interfere With Cricket appeared first on Cricket Country.

The format was different too. Nine teams, including Zimbabwe who had just played their first Test match, were clubbed in one group and played one another once in the league.

India’s Agonising Outing

India had a World Cup to forget. They went down to England in their first match, failing to reach the moderate 236-run target, which came thanks to a 91 from Robin Smith and 51 runs from Graham Gooch.
India’s reply began well with a 63-run opening stand between Ravi Shastri (57) and Krishnamachari Srikkanth (39) but then the wheel came off. Sachin Tendulkar scored 25 and Subroto Banerjee scored a valiant 25 not out off 16 deliveries but the lower-order just did not have enough steam to get through as India lost by nine runs.

Worse was to come as India lost to Australia by just one run in a tantalising rain-affected match.

After their second game was rained out, costing India a likely win against Sri Lanka, the next game saw them face Australia at Brisbane and it went down to the wire.

After Australia were restricted to 237/9 after some fine seam-up bowling from Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar, India fell short of the revised target by one run when Javagal Srinath’s long aerial shot was dropped by Steve Waugh at the fence but he recovered to throw the ball into fins last man Venkatapathy Raju short of his crease. India ended at 234 off 47 overs.

India beat Pakistan, defending a low score, and then went past Zimbabwe to keep their hopes alive, but went down to the West Indies, New Zealand, and then South Africa and their race was run.

Pakistan’s Roller Coaster Ride

Pakistan, at one stage, were almost out of the tournament. They lost three of their first five matches and only a rained-out contest against England gave them their third point, which would be crucial in the final summation.

Pakistan were 74 all out against England, who were 24/1 when the match stopped and never restarted.
Worst, Pakistan lost to India, which is always a big game. India scored only 216, thanks to a 54 not out from Tendulkar and 46 runs from Ajay Jadeja, and a late-order flurry from Kapil Dev who got 35 runs off 26 deliveries. Leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed claimed three wickets.

But Pakistan collapsed in a heap to end at 173. Only opener Aamer Sohail (62) and Javed Miandad 40 were in the race as the medium-pacers Kapil Dev, Prabhakar, and Srinath claimed two wickets apiece, while Tendulkar got the important wicket of Sohail.

Pakistan’s next match was a loss to South Africa and they were staring at elimination at this stage. But then things turned.

They beat Australia convincingly, then beat Sri Lanka and New Zealand to end up with nine points from the league, that one point in the rained-out match with England getting them ahead of Australia’s tally of eight.

They never looked back. Inzamam-ul Haq played a leading role as Pakistan beat New Zealand in the semi-final to set up a final clash with England.

Skipper Imran Khan scored 72 and Javed Miandad 58 as they scored 249/6. Contributions also came from Inzamam (42) and Wasim Akram (33).

Then the fiery display of fast bowling from Akram set the Melbourne Cricket Ground ablaze. He dismissed Ian Botham for a duck and then returned to remove Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis of successive deliveries, in one of the finest bowling displays of any final and England had no answers. Neil Fairbrother scored 62 and Lamb 31 but even though their tail wagged to some extent, Mushtaq Ahmed and Aaqib Javed also claimed wickets and Pakistan emerged winners by 22 runs.

The post World Cup 1992: Pakistan Rise From The Ashes To Claim Maiden Title appeared first on Cricket Country.

You won’t find the first of the lot, since they are yet to be up for sale. The second and third, sure, but at a premium. But that really does not matter to our NRI. Cricket must be watched, at any cost. Not least the only match that matters, India versus Pakistan, in Ahmedabad, on October 15! So, you make all your flight bookings, block hotel rooms (even hospital beds, it seems) and wait with bated breath for the tickets to be up for sale.

Then, they suddenly realise that the India-Pak match may not be played on October 15 at all! Just a minor fact of Navratri beginning on that day and which Indian doesn’t know how big it is in Gujarat.

Then the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) unleashes the real bombshell. There will be changes in the dates and times of several matches, because as many as three International Cricket Council (ICC) full members have issues about the current schedule.

We still don’t know if those members include Pakistan.

So, all the NRI friend’s plans – flight dates, hotel bookings, domestic travel plans – go up in smoke within the span of one BCCI briefing. Now he will be left scampering to revise all plans, but that too will have to wait till the new schedule is released.

The biggest equity-holder in cricket in India – the paying fan – has the last say, if any, in the goings-on of the board, or the ICC.

With just over two months left for the World Cup to begin (as per the original schedule), fans still don’t know when the matches he wants to watch will be played. As a double delight, he will also have to run to marked centres to pick up hard copies of match tickets, since e-tickets are not available.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah states that 7-8 centres will be opened “well in advance” for redemption of physical tickets, which will have to be retained by the spectators for the tournament.

So much for digitisation.

So not just will our NRI friend have to change all his plans, he will also have to queue up at one of these centres “well in advance” to redeem his ticket. That should be fun.

As a return for all these trials, the fan will be welcomed with enhanced facilities at the hosting stadia – stuff like hygiene, clean toilets, and free drinking water. They should be eternally grateful. After all, these things, taken as a given in most stadia for most sports worldwide, are not so in India.

Batting order mystery

Speaking of reordering, it was very interesting to see the Indian batting order during the first One-Day International (ODI) against the West Indies at Bridgetown, Barbados.

All the talk about Sanju Samson getting a look-in went up in smoke as Ishan Kishan came in to open India’s inning along with Shubman Gill, followed by Suryakumar Yadav (wearing Sanju Samson’s shirt) at No, 3, Hardik Pandya at 4, Ravindra Jadeja at 5 and then Shardul Thakur.

No sign of Virat Kohli (who wasn’t even padded up) and Rohit Sharma only came sauntering in when India lost their fifth wicket, that of Thakur.

Quite interesting, this whole exercise. Team India seems to be testing the waters, so to speak, in real earnest. Even the shirt sizes seems to be up for changes. Ask Samson and SKY.

Quite an engaging beginning to the World Cup preparations, off and on the field. Normally, such events are fixed, sold and sorted by this time, but this is cricket, after all, and that too in India.

Anything is possible. So, keep watching this space.

The post World Cup 2023: Change In Schedule And Batting Order, Ticket Sales And Scampering Fans appeared first on Cricket Country.

With the series tied at 1-1, the last game was a must-win and as it turned out, this game too ended in a draw and the two sides shared the trophy. But that is only half the story. The real story was how the India skipper not only lost her temper but also took shots at the officials, organisers, and rivals in an unending harangue.

Harmanpreet evidently was not too pleased by the manned in which she was given out leg-before as India were at a critical stage during the run chase. So incensed was the India captain that she let loose a vocal volley and shattered the stumps with her bat while walking out.

One would have assumed this was the end of it, but no. The skipper wasn’t done.

She let loose during the post-match interview, claiming that the next time India visited Bangladesh, the team would also prepare for the umpiring as much as the opponents.

Was that the end? No!

The ritual photograph was supposed to be next but here too, Harmanpreet just would not put a lid on it. She loudly asked for the umpires too to be brought on for the photograph and had quite a bit to say to rival skipper Nigar Sultana.

Nigar walked off with her side and later said that the environment was not right for the photo session.

This is not the first time that India and Bangladesh have had issues during matches.

A near-fracas during an Under-19 match a few years ago was preceded by some rather unwelcome posters in Bangladesh when the Indian senior team had visited.

Even in Sri Lanka, during the ongoing ACC Emerging Nations Asia Cup, the Bangladesh team had a lot to say during their semi-final against India, and the Indians gave it back in kind during their win, with veteran Bangladeshi player Soumya Sarkar also being given a verbal, which had threatened to escalate.

But the important thing with all of these was that none of them carried on after the match, or the immediate flare-up.

One would have assumed that saner heads would calm Harmanpreet Kaur down after the match, but those seem to be surfeit in the dressing room.

She might have been the aggrieved party, but to carry on unendingly was neither needed nor pretty. Her penalty was light compared to her violation of all codes.

Cricket captains, like all athletes, are ambassadors of the country and they need to draw a line about how far they want to stretch a contentious issue. In this case, there was no line. That is unacceptable.

The post When Harmanpreet Kaur Lost Her Temper And The Plot appeared first on Cricket Country.

All that was thanks to that World Cup in 1983, when a bunch of players ambled into England with precious little hope of doing anything big and returned as champions, players who are still feted and celebrated. This was the World Cup of change.

Little Hope

India, led by that Haryana star Kapil Dev, went into England with very little to bank on. In the past two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, India had a single win, that too over unknown East Africa and had the ignominy of losing to associate nation Sri Lanka in the second edition.

So, when the team left for England, everyone in it was looking at another short tour, and several plans had been made within the side to travel to the US once they were done with the tournament, much before the final.

Their mood couldn’t have improved when they saw the West Indies in their group. This was a side that had run over anyone in their way to win both the 1975 and 1979 editions of the tournament and India surely could not change that.

Incredible

But incredibly, India did change that. Their first league match of the tournament, on June 9 at Old Trafford, Manchester, saw India pitted against the Caribbeans and history was made.

Yashpal Sharma was the hero with a fighting 89 as India scored 262/8 in their 60 overs and the West Indians, to their and the cricket world’s utter shock, fell short.

Roger Binny claimed 3/48 off 12 overs and Ravi Shastri had 3/26 and the West Indies fell short by 34 runs. India were on their way.

The Wheels Coming Off

Despite this win, this was a big league to play – each side played the other twice – so this could still go south. India beat Zimbabwe in their next game but then Australia came down on them like a ton of bricks.

Opener Trevor Chappell scored a century as Australia scored 320/9, Kapil Dev’s 5/43 notwithstanding.

India were dismissed for 158, with Kapil getting 40 runs and Kris Srikkanth 39. Ken MacLeay’s 6/39 was just too much.

Then it was the West Indies again. Vivian Richards scored a century and despite a late-order collapse, the West Indies scored 282/9. India’s reply was orchestrated by Mohinder Amarnath’s 80, but there was little else as they fell to a 66-run loss.

India were now looking down the barrel. They had to win everything from here to have any hope of making it to the semi-finals.

Kapil Dev’s Magic

Tunbridge Wells on June 18 was looking like the end. Zimbabwe reduced India to 9/4 and then 17/5 before Kapil Dev, with some company from Binny, took India to 77 before two more wickets fell.

But Kapil was not to be denied. His incredible record 175 not out, lost to the world because of a strike by the broadcasters, was unreal. It came off 138 balls with 16 boundaries and six sixes. Any modern-day batter would be challenged to achieve that strike rate

Syed Kirmani remained 24 not out as India reached 266/8 and the shell-shocked Zimbabwe capitulated.

Then came Australia again, but by this time, India believed. Their 247 off 55.5 overs didn’t look enough but Binny and Madan Lal claimed four wickets apiece as Australia were dismissed for 129.

Miracle Unfolds

India were in the semi-finals! This was a shock to the powers of the sport and a sensation for the expatriate crowd in England.

But the title was still not in their reach. After all, they had to get past the hosts in the semis.

England batted first and an ominous 69-run opening stand between Graeme Fowler and Chris Tavare was threatening before Binny took care of both. Kapil Dev claimed three wickets while Binny and Amarnath had two apiece, while Kirti Azad’s off-spin sent the dangerous Ian Botham back and England could muster only 213.

Yashpal Sharma score a fine 61 and everyone in the top order chipped in as India sailed through, with Sandeep Patil (51 not out) hitting the winning runs.

India were in the final!

India! India!!

The final at Lord’s was a foregone conclusion, or at least the West Indies team and fans thought so. They expatriate Caribbeans thronged the ground but the Indian fans were not to be undone. It was quite the stage for history to be made.

India batted first and the West Indies fast-bowling battery was in no mood to let them into the match. But Srikkanth scored a courageous 38, taking the attack to the bowlers and Amarnath chipped in with 26. Patil contributed 27 and the tail, in Madan Lal, Kirmani and Balwinder Sandhu, scored some crucial runs. But 183 was not much of a target.

Sandhu was back in action when Gordon Greenidge shouldered arms to an inswinger and lost his stumps, but Richards was in no mood to let the match meander.

The star clobbered 33 off 28 deliveries with seven boundaries and it looked like curtains for India before Kapil Dev grabbed a skier that changed the entire match.

The rest is history, much repeated and celebrated. Amarnath claimed three wickets, as did Madan Lal, while Sandhu had two as West Indies collapsed for 140 in 52 overs.

India were champions. That day began what has been a legend, which lives on, and will for as long as sport is played. That was the day when India became viable, and never looked back.

The post World Cup 1983: India! India!! The Tournament That Changed World Cricket Forever appeared first on Cricket Country.

Major upset

As it turned out, that was not quite true. Australia, runners-up in 1975 to the West Indies, did not even qualify for the semi-finals after a disastrous league stage, where they lost both to England and Pakistan in the league stage.

Granted, Australia were not half the side they were in 1975, as the World Series Cricket (WSC) organised by Australian media baron Kerry Packer attracted a lot of the top names, who were thereafter slapped suspensions by the International Cricket Conference (ICC) and thereby were not available.

Nevertheless, Australia ran between the wickets like they had resumed from the 1975 final. That match saw five Aussie run-outs, and their next World Cup match, in 1979 against England, saw four batters being found short. From 111/3, Australia were reduced to 159/9 and that just wasn’t enough.

The biggest shock however came against Pakistan. The Pakistanis, boasting Sadiq Mohammed, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad and skipper Asif Iqbal were formidable and scored 286/7. Then Majid chipped in with three wickets as well as Sikander Bakht and Imran Khan were on point as Australia were dismissed for 197, losing by 89 runs and exiting the World Cup.

West Indies unstoppable

The West Indians were fantastic. No side was good enough to stop them and, in any case, they were in the relatively easier group.

India had no answer to the giant fast-bowling quintet of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft and Collis King and were dismissed for 190, which also was thanks to a patient 75 from Gundappa Viswanath.

Then Gordon Greenidge sailed to an unbeaten century and between him, Desmond Haynes and Richards, the job was easy.

The West Indies-Sri Lanka match was washed out and then the Caribbeans beat New Zealand to ensure a semi-final berth.

The last four saw Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd and King in fine nick and 293/6 was too much for Pakistan, despite some valiant resistance from Majid Khan and Zaheer Abbas. Ironically, Vivian Richards’ innocuous off-spin was as lethal as the fearsome fast bowlers.

England duly made the final against New Zealand and the hosts met the West Indies at Lord’s on June 23.

Chris Old and Mike Hendrick had West Indies in trouble and they were 99/4 before Richards and King, the original pinch-hitter, carved together a 139-run fifth-wicket stand.

Richards was his imperious self, with 138 not out off 157 deliveries while King blasted 86 off 66 balls with 10 boundaries and three sixes. A total of 286/9 was very challenging indeed.

A painstakingly slow opening stand between Mike Brearley and Geoffrey Boycott ensured England were never really in the race and Garner was unstoppable. His 5/38 off 11 overs and contributions by Croft and Holding ensured the West Indies their second successive World Cup.

India’s horror run

India had a World Cup to forget. Not only they lost to the West Indies and New Zealand, they also conceded points to Sri Lanka, still an associate nation, and were sent packing rather unceremoniously.

After the West Indies defeat, India went down to New Zealand. Batting first, they managed just 182 runs. Sunil Gavaskar scored 55 off 144 deliveries and barring Brijesh Patel in the middle-order and a bit of long handle by Kapil Dev and Karsan Ghavri lower down, there was nothing of note.

John Wright and Bruce Edgar added exactly 100 for the New Zealand opening stand and that effectively was that.

But the worst came five days later.

Sunil Wettimuny, Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis punished the Indian bowling as the islanders scored 238/5 off 60 overs and then the Indian batting, boasting Gavaskar, Anshuman Gaekwad, Dilip Vengsarkar, Viswanath and Brijesh Patel just never stuck around long enough and a lower-order collapse ensured that India had conceded points to the minnows.

India ended with zero points, below Sri Lanka’s one (no-result with West Indies).

This was hardly the backdrop that India needed, and no wonder they were not really taken seriously in the subsequent World Cup in 1983. But then, that is another story.

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The novelty of it all was something else – two groups, each with four teams, would fight for the top two slots and qualify for the semi-finals and then battle for the Prudential Cup (after the sponsors) at Lord’s. Quite a cricket jamboree, this.

One-Day International (ODI) cricket was just a few years old at this time. The first-ever ODI was the fallout of three days of rain at Melbourne during the 3^rd Test of the Australia-England series in 1970-71, resulting in the match being called off. Instead, the two sides decided to play a 40-over-a-side match on January 5, 1971.

The thing to note here is that these overs were eight-ball overs, as it was played Down Under those days.

First Format

Cut to 1975, and eight teams – hosts England, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, India, and Pakistan were joined by associate members Sri Lanka and East Africa for the tournament. The tournament format would see each team in the group playing the other in 60, six-ball over matches.

As it turned out, the eventualities of who would qualify for the semi-finals were quite predictable. The Asian sides had little hope on the green English surfaces and the fast-bowling batteries of England, Australia and the West Indies were too formidable. These three, along with New Zealand, entered the semi-finals and eventually, Australia took on the West Indies in the final at Lord’s on June 21.

Classic Final

The final was quite a match after all tickets were sold out three days in advance. West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd scored a century as the Caribbeans scored a formidable 291/8 off 60 overs. Gary Gilmour was in fine nick with the ball, claiming 5/48.

Australia, the eternal fighters, were in the game right till the end. They were down to 233/9, thanks mainly to a total of four run-outs, three being completed by Vivian Richards, before a 41-run last-wicket stand between Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson brought Australia within 18 runs of the target.

But the valiant effort went in vain as another run-out saw the West Indies emerge winners by 17 runs.

India’s Dismal Show

India were new to ODI cricket and their inexperience in the format was there for all to see. Of the three matches they played in the group stage, the sole win came against unknown East Africa.

In fact, India had the ignominy of conceding the first-ever 300-plus score in World Cup history, when England scored 334/4 (although off 60 overs) on June 7.

India’s response was even more inglorious. They ended with 132/3 in the allotted overs, an effort made notorious by opener Sunil Gavaskar’s 36 not out off 174 deliveries!

The next match notched up India’s only win, when they beat East Africa by 10 wickets in front of 720 spectators, but Australia too were too good for them.

India were decided better with the bat. Anshuman Gaekwad contributed 37 at No. 4 but it was a valiant 60-run ninth-wicket stand between Syed Abid Ali (70) and skipper S. Venkataraghavan (26 not out) that gave India 230 runs to defend.

Incidentally, Mohinder Amarnath batted at No. 9 in this match.

But this never enough as opener Glenn Turner scored an unbeaten 114 and New Zealand coasted to 233/6 0ff 58.5 overs to send India packing out of the tournament.

As we said before, cricket was never the same after this. Limited-over matches, as we see now, were beginning grab people’s imaginations. All the action, done and dusted in eight or nine overs was a far cry from long and sometimes tedious days of Test cricket. No wonder that 60-over cricket, and then 50 overs, followed by 20 and now even 10 overs, have become a norm.

Always good to recall where it all began, and who were the pioneers. The sport indeed owes them a lot.

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Things have changed radically for West Indies cricket, but those factors we have discussed threadbare over the years. As of now, it is yet another Test in Trinidad, one that India would like to seal off without much fuss and end the series with a 2-0 scoreline.

Rohit Sharma was happy with the way Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan, the two debutants at Dominica, shaped up. More so naturally with Jaiswal, who has shown maturity beyond his 21 years and also a hunger for runs. Potent for a great Test career.

Sharma himself would also be happy with his own century, although that was very much on the cards, given the lack of venom in the West Indies attack.

Another batter who was looking for another big one was Virat Kohli, and while he did get decent runs, a three-figure, almost there for the taking, eluded him.
Port of Spain could give him another opportunity, depending of course on the weather, which hasn’t really been too flattering.

There is no debate that both Sharma and Kohli are on the downward curves of their formidable careers and opportunities like this, while batting form and fitness, will become rarer by the day.

Even for Ajinkya Rahane, surprisingly named vice-captain for this series, these are now rare occasions, and while the vagaries of the pitch did him in at Dominica, he too will be keen to seek runs.

As would Shubman Gill. His choice for the No. 3 position did not have a good beginning.

As for the bowling, once more, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will hold the key, while one could safely say that Jaydev Unadkat’s contribution to this cause could be ended and Axar Patel could well see another Test match. Not much else can really be changed, unless there are fitness issues.

As for the West Indies, skipper Kraigg Brathwaite has a massive challenge, as before. There have been some changes in the side for the second Test but overall, he will have to lead a pack of hesitant players against a well-knit side. Not a happy state of affairs for him, but that is how it is.

A lot will change for Indian cricket in the next few months, and this could well be a last Test visit for many players to the fascinating islands. One only hopes that the sign-off is a good one.

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