Just A Bad Day In Office
Let me start the post with a caveat – If you can’t stand
with your team during tough times you don’t deserve to celebrate in their wins
either. It was heartrending to see us lose badly to our arch rivals in an ICC
final, make no mistake about it. As a Cricket fan myself, I am yet to come in
terms with the fact that we lost to a team that in all probability is far inferior
to us on the current form. A team which had to manage/modify their
international schedule so that they would have enough points to qualify for the
‘Champions Trophy’ actually ended up as the winner on the final day. But that
is perhaps the beauty of the game called Cricket. Nothing is predictable in
this game and it is proved yet again that on any given day a spirited lot can
give rude surprises to the best in the business. Just that we found ourselves
at the receiving end this time. This happens in every sport. You lose some and
you win some. A mere loss doesn’t make our team any less. They were champions
and they still are and least as the supporters we can do is to keep the moral
of our team high.
India by far is the better side on any given day and I say
so quite dispassionately. It required some exceptional performance to beat this
side. We can juggle around with numbers and individuals depending on which side
of the fence we are in but the entire tournament showed what this current
Indian team is capable of. If the sloppy physical attributes of Kedar and
Ashwin could be shorted out, this team could very well become the benchmark for
the modern day one-day team. This team isn’t quite as yet become the Australian
team under Ponting and Waugh or the West-Indies under Llyod and Richanrds but
they are certainly on their way to become one of the greatest teams to ever
have played the game. This team isn’t surrendering meekly to the opponents like
the team that we grew up idolizing. I can count at least hundred matches where
the departure of Sachin Tendulkar almost led us to capitulate like pack of
cards. Even before that, we had a team that made a win a prized rarity. Our
head-to-head record against Pakistan would reflect the capabilities of our
yesteryear teams. Post Dhoni, this team seems to have built a reputation of
fighting like a wounded lion on every match day. ‘Never to say die’ attitude is
another thing that this team possesses unlike our earlier teams. A single loss
doesn’t alter these facts and nor does it makes our team a second string lot.
India lost, which to my opinion, because they played against
a team that had nothing to lose. Pakistan played a high risk game which on the
day worked out well. Pakistan could win because they went to the park without
any plan, or may be a simple plan to play a high risk game and hoping it would click
with a little bit of ‘lady luck’. This is in fact the only way out for any
underdog. The final game came as a stark contrast to the first game between the
same two teams. In the first game Pakistan played with a plan and approached
the game with a no or minimal mistake game. This won’t work if you are pitted
against a better side. The better side is bound to make lesser mistakes and trounce
you down and that is what happened on June 8th. Throughout the
tournament India took the approach of sensible and copybook cricket because the
situation never demanded to change the course. We followed the same approach in
the final as well while Pakistan was quick to learn the bitter truth – they simply
can’t beat this Indian side with orthodox cricket. It has to be something
different, if not outright crazy. The risk paid off which on other days may
not.
As somebody correctly said – India played its
conventional, “avoid mistakes” game, as it has done throughout the tournament,
buying bonds and investing in index funds and pouring over annual earnings
statements, but if the opponent is putting it all on the blackjack table and winning
pretty much every hand, there is no way you can match his Return of investment.
To put it in layman’s language – Pakistan took the gamble and chose to rather appear ugly to
make their way out while we simply couldn’t match the outcome with our orthodox approach.
That said I am not taking anything away from the Pakistan
team. They played like they mean business. They played as if their life hinges
on the outcome. India thought the encounter to be just another game, thanks to
the experience of the earlier game with the same opponents but instead faced a
spirited bunch that was ready to give it their all for a win.
Congratulations Pakistan on a good win!!
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