Of triumph and disaster

 There is this thing called “Australianism” defined by John Arlott that I found to resonate with across decades now, ever since I first read it. Meaning it applies to squad after squad, leader after leader, captain after captain, cutting across formats and continents, for those magnificent men in yellow or white, depending on the format. According to Arlott – “Australianism' means single-minded determination to win - to win within the laws but, if necessary, to the last limit within them. It means where the 'impossible' is within the realm of what the human body can do, there are Australians who believe that they can do it - and who have succeeded often enough to make us wonder if anything is impossible to them. It means they have never lost a match - particularly a Test match - until the last run is scored or their last wicket down.” You can add a small event called world cup finals as well to this definition. 

My earliest memory of a heart break after watching a cricket final was 2003 IND AUS one. I didn’t had a chance to watch Aussie bat first, but the moment I heard Ponting scored a ton smashing Zaheer across the park and India has to chase in excess of 300, my heart sank to depths that I was unaware of before. I stopped reading newspaper for several days and skipped cricket related news altogether for many more days. I kept rewatching the video clips of Sachin smashing Shoaib, upper cutting him for a glorious six, backed with “Madurai veeran thaane” song from Dhool. It was one of the most famous reel clips in circulation then. It took too much longer time to even fathom a first-round exit 4 years later. 2011 finals was kind of anti-climactic as I didn’t really had much hope on the team all throughout the tournament. To be honest, they weren’t the best team of the lot and yet when they won the finals, the momentous occasion and mob frenzy mood that shadowed you wherever you went and the media hype that kept on and on for several days, made it an impossible event to miss. As a superstition that near certainly true, I rarely watch a full match especially knock-outs or important matches that India plays. They invariably loose when I see the full match and I am quite satisfied with replays if the team can win. But come 2023, this was THE team of the tournament, knocking over teams both chasing and defending, with their magnificent attack and red-hot form batters. But it was always a question of “when” the loose end will be exposed with no 6th bowler and disastrously it happened on the fateful final.

Coming back to the title winners, just like the 2011 IND team, Aussies never had that invincible aura of their previous edition squads. In fact, they almost got knocked out at very early stage itself and till their penultimate league match their position was never sure. That one knock by Maxwell against Afghanistan, stands testament to Arlott’s quote. Cricinfo site had pegged a 99% win probability after the fall of 7th wicket and it was around the 20th over I guess. No team has won a match from being so low down, with so many odds stacked against and with such a huge score still to be chased with only one recognized batsmen, who was also only half a player, having been impaired by cramps. That match to me, might’ve been such a big booster for Aussies that many million Indians would’ve silently prayed for them not to reach the final, which they did in style. They defeated the best team on the D-day, having rallied their bits and pieces men who were never sure when their return ticket back home would be booked till halfway through the tournament.

20 years over and yet nothing changes. I stopped reading about the event and news that followed the finale. Stopped following any sports related news at all for last few days and it may take a bit more time to come out of the misery. But one thing sure has changed, for this time, I knew for sure, but for the fatal flaw of not having one more spin bowling all-rounder, this time was near perfect. They tried their heart out and despite occupying top slots on every department, the only thing that mattered just fell out of their grasp. With champions trophy up next immediately followed by T20 world cup there is no dearth of ICC trophies to pursue. But it has been significantly established that India has taken over the “chokers” tag from South Africa, releasing them of that demon. Wouldn’t be surprised if the proteas thrash every one and lift the Champions trophy, if only they could chase! Sigh!