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Article by Fenil -
25 June 1983, a day that Indian cricket could never forget. On a fine morning at the Mecca of cricket -Lords- (in the words of The Times) “Kapil’s men turn[ed] [the] world upside down”. This was the day, when the cannon fodder had turned into cannons. This was the day on which India not only stunned the world to beat the world champions and the most feared outfit, West Indies, but also inspired thousands of children back home to take up cricket as a sport. That proved to be the foundation for Indian cricket to lift themselves to the next level.
28 years later, on 2nd April 2011, after a long long wait, Indians, from cricketers to citizens, finally got a chance again to experience the same feeling, to celebrate like never before. To shout in glee at the topmost of their voice. India had done it again. With a six from skipper MS Dhoni in the final, India had become World Champions! There was a joy to get the reputed title and there was hope that this victory would do something similar to that which the win of 1983 did to Indian cricket, that it will generate a new lease of interest and passion amongst the people especially children and young cricketers.
A year down the line, the situation is exactly the opposite to what one would have expected. Since the tournament, when India had their moment to cherish,? despite Sehwag scoring 219 in ODIs, Sachin scoring his much awaited 100th ton and India chasing over 300 in 37 overs at Hobart, for most of this period Indian performance has taken a huge beating.
India’s first international series after the triumph came when they visited West Indies after IPL4 which started almost immediately after the World Cup. India huffed and puffed and finally managed to beat the rivals in the tests but the fact that India, the then world no.1 test team decided not to go for the kill when they needed only 86 from 15 overs surprised one and all. After all that isn’t expected from a world no. 1 team, in fact from any team at playing at the highest level.
Indian team then took their flight to England where, the visitors not only lost their world no.1 ranking but almost their reputation too. On the very first day of the tour, the team’s main bowler Zaheer Khan was injured resulting in MS Dhoni having to give away his gloves and turn his arm over. It raised questions about the management in Indian cricket, and this was just the start. The visitors were thrashed in all departments, be it batting, bowling and fielding in the test series barring the old horse and Mr. Dependable, Rahul Dravid who played beautifully to score tons where none of his partner could survive long enough to even save a match. Virender Sehwag even managed to get a king pair in Birmingham. It was the turn of ODI series then. The height of fear of non-performance could be judged by the fact that the selectors chose to draft Rahul Dravid who had not played a single ODI for 2 years till then as he was the only batsman who had performed well on the tour. Unfortunately for them, the players changed, the format changed but the fate didn’t. India lost all the matches of ODI series along with the T20 match and returned home empty handed. Despite this they still managed to repay the favour on home soil with a series victory against the same England team.
This was expected to do wonders to the confidence of the side as they went for the tour down under but their nightmare wasn’t over yet. India’s performance nosedived once again and were clueless against the home team. If Dravid was India’s only rescue man in England, here it was young Virat Kohli who scored a hundred in the series, the lone from an Indian batsman in the series. This was followed by CB Series in the format which they, as Indians proudly say, are world champions of yet failed to repeat their performance of 2008 edition of the tournament and crashed out of the tournament by losing miserably against the rival teams. Similar thing happened as they played Asia Cup in Bangladesh recently with India’s tally at 19 wins, 11 loses and 2 tie/draw/canceled matches from the 31 ODIs they played after the world cup.
Amidst all this, India had also got something to smile about. Talented players in Kohli, Vinay and Yadav have performed very well and are seen as the future of Indian cricket. Now, after the drubbings and a painful year for the team, with no international series for next couple of months, lets hope takes this time to improve themselves and that they rise from the ashes like a phoenix and once again play like champions should.
In the end, let’s have a look at the performance of the key players of the world cup winning team in ODIs after the tournament:
M.S. Dhoni: Dhoni’s performance as a captain has been away from the mark but with an average of 103.42 from 20 matches and a tally of 924 runs, he has performed brilliantly as a batsman which includes many unbeaten innings which has also quite clearly helped up his average.
Suresh Raina: The UP dasher had underperformed in the overseas on bouncy tracks but has performed well on slow low wickets of the subcontinent as he always has been in his career and has scored 612 runs from 31 games at an average of 32.48
Virat Kohli: The youngster from Delhi has impressed one and all. He has been in form of his life time and played outstanding cricket. With a total of 1636 runs from 31 matches at an average of 60.49 which included 6 centuries, Virat has been by far the most consistent batsman for India.
Yuvraj Singh: Yuvraj, or Yuvi as he is fondly called was the main reason for India being the champions. The man of the tournament had almost singlehandedly sealed a place for his team into the final of world cup. Yuvraj was diagnosed of cancer and is currently undergoing for the treatment for the same. He haven’t been able to play a single game after the world cup but is expected to return soon to the professional cricket.
R. Ashwin: Ashwin, who had done a commendable job in the tournament and looked off color for most of the 26 ODIs he played he played after the world cup and managed to pick 33 wickets and has given 193 runs in the process. Zaheer Khan: The best pacer of Indian team has struggled with fitness after the tournament and thus has managed to play only 4 matches in which he got only 5 wickets at a whopping average of 39.40 runs.
Virender Sehwag: The flamboyant Delhiite has failed to impress anyone with his show and has been out of form. His prolonged lack of form led the selectors to give him a boot. Sehwag has scored 330 runs at an average of 36.66 in 9 matches which includes his record breaking 219 run innings against West Indies.
Harbhajan Singh: The onus was on Harbhajan to lead the attack from the front being the experienced and strike bowler for the team. Harbhajan has bowled pretty accurately but haven’t been able to pick up wickets which is required at the highest level and has paid the price by losing his place from the team. Bhajji has played just 4 games in which he has managed to get 5 wickets an average of 26.75.
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25 June 1983, a day that Indian cricket could never forget. On a fine morning at the Mecca of cricket -Lords- (in the words of The Times) “Kapil’s men turn[ed] [the] world upside down”. This was the day, when the cannon fodder had turned into cannons. This was the day on which India not only stunned the world to beat the world champions and the most feared outfit, West Indies, but also inspired thousands of children back home to take up cricket as a sport. That proved to be the foundation for Indian cricket to lift themselves to the next level.
28 years later, on 2nd April 2011, after a long long wait, Indians, from cricketers to citizens, finally got a chance again to experience the same feeling, to celebrate like never before. To shout in glee at the topmost of their voice. India had done it again. With a six from skipper MS Dhoni in the final, India had become World Champions! There was a joy to get the reputed title and there was hope that this victory would do something similar to that which the win of 1983 did to Indian cricket, that it will generate a new lease of interest and passion amongst the people especially children and young cricketers.
A year down the line, the situation is exactly the opposite to what one would have expected. Since the tournament, when India had their moment to cherish,? despite Sehwag scoring 219 in ODIs, Sachin scoring his much awaited 100th ton and India chasing over 300 in 37 overs at Hobart, for most of this period Indian performance has taken a huge beating.
India’s first international series after the triumph came when they visited West Indies after IPL4 which started almost immediately after the World Cup. India huffed and puffed and finally managed to beat the rivals in the tests but the fact that India, the then world no.1 test team decided not to go for the kill when they needed only 86 from 15 overs surprised one and all. After all that isn’t expected from a world no. 1 team, in fact from any team at playing at the highest level.
Indian team then took their flight to England where, the visitors not only lost their world no.1 ranking but almost their reputation too. On the very first day of the tour, the team’s main bowler Zaheer Khan was injured resulting in MS Dhoni having to give away his gloves and turn his arm over. It raised questions about the management in Indian cricket, and this was just the start. The visitors were thrashed in all departments, be it batting, bowling and fielding in the test series barring the old horse and Mr. Dependable, Rahul Dravid who played beautifully to score tons where none of his partner could survive long enough to even save a match. Virender Sehwag even managed to get a king pair in Birmingham. It was the turn of ODI series then. The height of fear of non-performance could be judged by the fact that the selectors chose to draft Rahul Dravid who had not played a single ODI for 2 years till then as he was the only batsman who had performed well on the tour. Unfortunately for them, the players changed, the format changed but the fate didn’t. India lost all the matches of ODI series along with the T20 match and returned home empty handed. Despite this they still managed to repay the favour on home soil with a series victory against the same England team.
This was expected to do wonders to the confidence of the side as they went for the tour down under but their nightmare wasn’t over yet. India’s performance nosedived once again and were clueless against the home team. If Dravid was India’s only rescue man in England, here it was young Virat Kohli who scored a hundred in the series, the lone from an Indian batsman in the series. This was followed by CB Series in the format which they, as Indians proudly say, are world champions of yet failed to repeat their performance of 2008 edition of the tournament and crashed out of the tournament by losing miserably against the rival teams. Similar thing happened as they played Asia Cup in Bangladesh recently with India’s tally at 19 wins, 11 loses and 2 tie/draw/canceled matches from the 31 ODIs they played after the world cup.
Amidst all this, India had also got something to smile about. Talented players in Kohli, Vinay and Yadav have performed very well and are seen as the future of Indian cricket. Now, after the drubbings and a painful year for the team, with no international series for next couple of months, lets hope takes this time to improve themselves and that they rise from the ashes like a phoenix and once again play like champions should.
In the end, let’s have a look at the performance of the key players of the world cup winning team in ODIs after the tournament:
M.S. Dhoni: Dhoni’s performance as a captain has been away from the mark but with an average of 103.42 from 20 matches and a tally of 924 runs, he has performed brilliantly as a batsman which includes many unbeaten innings which has also quite clearly helped up his average.
Suresh Raina: The UP dasher had underperformed in the overseas on bouncy tracks but has performed well on slow low wickets of the subcontinent as he always has been in his career and has scored 612 runs from 31 games at an average of 32.48
Virat Kohli: The youngster from Delhi has impressed one and all. He has been in form of his life time and played outstanding cricket. With a total of 1636 runs from 31 matches at an average of 60.49 which included 6 centuries, Virat has been by far the most consistent batsman for India.
Yuvraj Singh: Yuvraj, or Yuvi as he is fondly called was the main reason for India being the champions. The man of the tournament had almost singlehandedly sealed a place for his team into the final of world cup. Yuvraj was diagnosed of cancer and is currently undergoing for the treatment for the same. He haven’t been able to play a single game after the world cup but is expected to return soon to the professional cricket.
R. Ashwin: Ashwin, who had done a commendable job in the tournament and looked off color for most of the 26 ODIs he played he played after the world cup and managed to pick 33 wickets and has given 193 runs in the process. Zaheer Khan: The best pacer of Indian team has struggled with fitness after the tournament and thus has managed to play only 4 matches in which he got only 5 wickets at a whopping average of 39.40 runs.
Virender Sehwag: The flamboyant Delhiite has failed to impress anyone with his show and has been out of form. His prolonged lack of form led the selectors to give him a boot. Sehwag has scored 330 runs at an average of 36.66 in 9 matches which includes his record breaking 219 run innings against West Indies.
Harbhajan Singh: The onus was on Harbhajan to lead the attack from the front being the experienced and strike bowler for the team. Harbhajan has bowled pretty accurately but haven’t been able to pick up wickets which is required at the highest level and has paid the price by losing his place from the team. Bhajji has played just 4 games in which he has managed to get 5 wickets an average of 26.75.
More...
